Re: [OPE] Anti-imperialism and nationalism

GERALD LEVY wrote:
>>
>>
>> > To my mind, the right to self-determination is a
>> > fundamental democratic right.
>
> I agree - and here I disagree with Dave Z. The right of
> self-determination
> should extend to entities other than oppressed nations. E.g. poor
> communities in struggle: they have the democratic right to make decisions
> (and mistakes) for themselves without (know-it-all) "activists" from
> outside
> of their communities attempting to impose their tactics and strategies
> on them.
> The right to self-determination is also, in my view, about respect -
> respect for the ability of working and poor communities to make decisions
> for themselves; respect for _their_ experiences and knowledge.
>
 This would be fine were the putative national communities
geographically distinct.
Where they are not then you have the conditions for bloody civil war.
Application of the right to self determination on the territory of the
former Yugoslavia produced
few if any benefits.
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Received on Thu Dec 10 10:19:05 2009