Sikhs, in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K), represent only 1.87% – roughly 60,000 members – of the overall population in the region, which remains predominately Muslim. In the valley of Kashmir, Sikh minorities maintain distinct cultural, linguistic, religious, and (at times) political traditions from other Sikhs in India. In recent decades, beleaguered by the lack of secure work opportunities, religious and political violence, an overall political invisibility, and the slow migration of members out of the region, Sikhs have been agitating for minority status over their lack of official recognition by the Indian government as a religious and cultural minority. Many Sikhs have found it easier to seek opportunities outside the valley, leading to a “slow migration” of members from Kashmir. The efforts of minoritization would see Sikhs gaining better work and educational opportunities and potentially stemming their slow departure. This research looks at subjects of visibility, membership, minority rights and efforts, and looks to provide the historical contexts that remain relevant to the community in current discourses. This thesis seeks to understand more specifically (1) what minoritization would provide for Sikhs in the Kashmir valley and (2) the possible future implications of becoming recognized as distinct and different political subjects by the Indian State, while simultaneously seeking to maintain their own distinct cultural and regional identities. For Kashmir’s Sikhs, desires for visibility highlight anxieties related to their awareness of their own disappearance and economic suffering. Between the region’s violent history and India’s military occupation, their anxieties reveal complex social issues that are rooted in memories and experiences of traumas, weak government efforts to provide access to Scheduled Status, and the continued burden of oversight that have long left the community in the margins of relevance. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA) / This thesis looks at Kashmir’s minority Sikh community who have been petitioning the Indian government for minority rights and reservations. These reservations would alleviate issues related to economic, educational, and political oversights. These oversights have left the community without equity and access to work and representation as they compete for access against much larger communities in India’s competitive systems. However, government recognition would also force upon the community a criteria for membership as recognized by the state, challenging notions of self identification. This research looks at subjects of visibility, membership, minority rights and efforts, and seeks to establish the historical contexts that remain relevant to the community in current discourse, as they engage with Indian state.

Yes / This article examines transnational activism by coalitions of national minorities in Europe from the early 20th century to the present, setting this within the broader ‘security versus democracy dilemma’ that continues to surround international discussions on minority rights. Specifically, we analyse two organisations – the European Nationalities Congress (1925–1938) and the Federal Union of European Nationalities (1949–) – which, while linked, have never been subject to a detailed comparison based on primary sources. In so far as comparisons do exist, they present these bodies in highly negative terms, as mere fronts for inherently particularistic nationalisms that threaten political stability, state integrity and peace. Our more in‐depth analysis provides a fresh and more nuanced perspective: it shows that, in both cases, concepts of European integration and ‘unity in diversity’ have provided the motivating goals and frameworks for transnational movements advocating common rights for all minorities and seeking positive interaction with the interstate world.

This thesis analyzes how the interests of minority and majority groups in state-led development practices can be bridged, with the Indian tribals affected by the Sardar Sarovar Dam Project (SSP) serving as a context for my analysis. The SSP threatens the livelihoods of approximately 100,000 people with displacement, who are primarily comprised of Indian tribal minorities. The construction of the SSP makes tribals more vulnerable to the risks associated with development-induced displacement, such as landlessness, joblessness, homelessness, marginalization, and food insecurity. When analyzing the SSP, a lack of adequate compensation, resettlement, and legal protection for the tribals becomes apparent. This has led to discussions of human rights violations among the national and international community, raising concerns regarding the protection of minority groups affected by state-led development. Attention is placed on what it means to be a citizen of a country in terms of legal representation and state protection, and how the under-representation of societal groups can lead to the creation of second-class citizens. The objective is to go beyond current discussions of human rights neglect in the context of the SSP by analyzing the position of minority rights in state-led development practices.

This thesis analyzes how the interests of minority and majority groups in state-led development practices can be bridged, with the Indian tribals affected by the Sardar Sarovar Dam Project (SSP) serving as a context for my analysis. The SSP threatens the livelihoods of approximately 100,000 people with displacement, who are primarily comprised of Indian tribal minorities. The construction of the SSP makes tribals more vulnerable to the risks associated with development-induced displacement, such as landlessness, joblessness, homelessness, marginalization, and food insecurity. When analyzing the SSP, a lack of adequate compensation, resettlement, and legal protection for the tribals becomes apparent. This has led to discussions of human rights violations among the national and international community, raising concerns regarding the protection of minority groups affected by state-led development. Attention is placed on what it means to be a citizen of a country in terms of legal representation and state protection, and how the under-representation of societal groups can lead to the creation of second-class citizens. The objective is to go beyond current discussions of human rights neglect in the context of the SSP by analyzing the position of minority rights in state-led development practices.

This thesis analyzes how the interests of minority and majority groups in state-led development practices can be bridged, with the Indian tribals affected by the Sardar Sarovar Dam Project (SSP) serving as a context for my analysis. The SSP threatens the livelihoods of approximately 100,000 people with displacement, who are primarily comprised of Indian tribal minorities. The construction of the SSP makes tribals more vulnerable to the risks associated with development-induced displacement, such as landlessness, joblessness, homelessness, marginalization, and food insecurity. When analyzing the SSP, a lack of adequate compensation, resettlement, and legal protection for the tribals becomes apparent. This has led to discussions of human rights violations among the national and international community, raising concerns regarding the protection of minority groups affected by state-led development. Attention is placed on what it means to be a citizen of a country in terms of legal representation and state protection, and how the under-representation of societal groups can lead to the creation of second-class citizens. The objective is to go beyond current discussions of human rights neglect in the context of the SSP by analyzing the position of minority rights in state-led development practices.

This thesis analyzes how the interests of minority and majority groups in state-led development practices can be bridged, with the Indian tribals affected by the Sardar Sarovar Dam Project (SSP) serving as a context for my analysis. The SSP threatens the livelihoods of approximately 100,000 people with displacement, who are primarily comprised of Indian tribal minorities. The construction of the SSP makes tribals more vulnerable to the risks associated with development-induced displacement, such as landlessness, joblessness, homelessness, marginalization, and food insecurity. When analyzing the SSP, a lack of adequate compensation, resettlement, and legal protection for the tribals becomes apparent. This has led to discussions of human rights violations among the national and international community, raising concerns regarding the protection of minority groups affected by state-led development. Attention is placed on what it means to be a citizen of a country in terms of legal representation and state protection, and how the under-representation of societal groups can lead to the creation of second-class citizens. The objective is to go beyond current discussions of human rights neglect in the context of the SSP by analyzing the position of minority rights in state-led development practices.

The minority rights paradox is articulated at the level of political theory, is deployed by liberal democratic institutions, and can be observed in the political discourse of mass communications. Minority groups, it is argued, are paradoxically claiming purported rights that are unsupported by the values upon which the claimants base their claim. On the one hand, minority claims are made on the basis of rights secured by a liberal democracy; on the other hand, the claims undermine the legitimacy of liberal reasoning—the same reasoning that legitimizes the rights on which the claims are made. The self-referential implications of this paradox are as follows: Either the minority claim negates its own justification or the underlying justification renders the claim moot. In either case, the charge of paradox effectively puts an end to the conversation by dismissing minority rights claims before they are properly understood. My aim is to first, come to terms with political dialogues in which the charge of paradox occurs and second, to overcome the stultifying effects of the minority rights paradox through a deliberative approach to negotiating the concept and content of minority rights claims. Evaluating the claims of minorities, I will argue, requires a dialogue that can adapt to the participants in the dialogue—an inclusive deliberative process that gives formal, procedural and substantive recognition to the worldviews of minority cultures in political decision-making.

<p>Over the last few decades, the Swedish society has become more and more multicultural, which has resulted in the fact that the differences between different ethnic groups have become more and more noticed and debated. Studies have shown that persons belonging to minority groups are often wronged by majority decisions, which leaves the minorities in a disadvantageous position in relation to the majority. The scientific problem is how a state should compensate different minority groups for their disadvantaged position in order to be able to guarantee justice and equality for all individuals of the state.</p><p>The aim of this thesis is to examine the Swedish government’s attitude towards minority rights, and to analyse whether this coincides with Will Kymlicka’s normative minority rights theory. The research questions are:</p><p>• How should the majority society treat minorities according to Kymlicka?</p><p>• Which is Swedish minority policy’s stance on minority rights?</p><p>The methods used in this thesis include a qualitative text analysis and a field investigation among Finnish-speaking people living in Borlänge.</p><p>The conclusion of this essay is that the Swedish government in all likelihood has a positive attitude towards minority rights, since it has assigned group differentiated rights to the national minorities in Sweden. Furthermore, the Swedish government’s view on minority rights coincides to a great extent with Will Kymlicka’s normative theory.</p>

Many researchers say that the multiculturalism in Russia has emerged recently, but this term started to dеvеlop few dеcades ago. During this time period we have seen its significant change and improvement. Russian sociеty culturally is very divеrse. There are many different nаtions, culturеs, religions, and even civilizations living in Russia. The uniqueness of Russia consists in the fact that those different culturеs are its indigenous people. There is probably no other stаte in the world with such a high number of different culturеs living together relatively peacefully for centuries. Also, culturally diverse population of Russia is not composed of migrаnts as in the case of Europe or the USA. For this purpose the beginning of the thesis is dedicated to understanding of the term multiculturalism, cultural diversity, minority groups and similar. Multiculturalism developed significantly especially in the phase of last events which took place in the Wеst. The 9/11 has brought several changes. Also, the latest incidents (and the speeches of the several lеadеrs) in Europe have shown Europeans and the rest of the world that the situation in immigrаnt welcoming rеgions is not positive as before. This makes the policy of multiculturalism even more complicated in the light of present developments. The...

<p>This is a study of the Turkish discussion on minority rights. The minority issue in Turkey was placed on the Turkish agenda in connection with intensified negotiations with the European Union on Turkish membership. The unusual and complex circumstances regarding the minority issue in Turkey makes it interesting and relevant to study this topic. The particular focus of this study is on the Kurdish minority and on the alternative discussion regarding the minority issue pursued within civil society groups and the academic sphere. The aim is to contribute to the understanding of the debate on minority rights within these groups. Interviews and collection of literature were made during a field study in Turkey in 2006. A result of this field study was the observation that there are forces working for a change in the notion of Turkish citizenship, and that the minority concept is controversial in Turkey for a number of reasons. Another observation was that the tension between assimilation and cultural identity is an important aspect of the discussion on minorities in Turkey. The Turkish debate has been contrasted to the debate on multiculturalism within political theory. This debate on multiculturalism is about how to deal with culturally diverse societies. There is one main position in favour of multiculturalism and one against. The ideas put forward in the Turkish discussion have been compared with this debate and it has been found that the Turkish discussion differs from this debate in some respects.</p>