Books by Karlo Basta
The nation-state is a double sleight of hand, naturalizing both the nation and the state encompas... more The nation-state is a double sleight of hand, naturalizing both the nation and the state encompassing it. No such naturalization is possible in multinational states. To explain why these countries experience political crises that bring their very existence into question, standard accounts point to conflicts over resources, security, and power. This book turns the spotlight on institutional symbolism.
When minority nations in multinational states press for more self-government, they are not only looking to protect their interests. They are asking to be recognized as political communities in their own right. Yet satisfying their demands for recognition threatens to provoke a reaction from members of majority nations who see such changes as a symbolic repudiation of their own vision of politics. Secessionist crises flare up when majority backlash reverses symbolic concessions to minority nations. Through a synoptic historical sweep of Canada, Spain, Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia, The Symbolic State shows us that institutions may be more important for what they mean than for what they do.
A major contribution to the study of comparative nationalism and secession, comparative politics, and social theory, The Symbolic State is particularly timely in an era when the power of symbols - exemplified by Brexit, the Donald Trump presidency, and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement - is reshaping politics.
Territorial pluralism is often viewed as a means for the peaceful, democratic, and just managemen... more Territorial pluralism is often viewed as a means for the peaceful, democratic, and just management of difference in states characterized by cleavages along ethnic, national, linguistic, and cultural lines. But is territorial pluralism still relevant in a world where the politics of identity pose ever greater challenges? This book examines the normative and empirical dimensions of territorial pluralism, which emerges as an important, though hardly perfect, means for successful management of competing political projects within plural states. With identity conflicts continuing to influence domestic and international politics across the globe, the provocative themes raised by this volume will have significant resonance.
Thesis by Karlo Basta
This dissertation explains the extent and durability of the institutions of territorial autonomy ... more This dissertation explains the extent and durability of the institutions of territorial autonomy in multinational states. Its main argument is that the viability of territorial autonomy hinges on the relative economic importance of the minority-inhabited region for the central government. If the fiscal resources of the minority-inhabited region are critical for the funding of the central government’s policy objectives, autonomy is likely to be limited and short lived. If those resources are not as crucial for the governability of the entire state, autonomy is likely to be more extensive and durable. The importance of the minority-inhabited region depends on two sets of factors. The first is the relative level of economic development of majority and minority-inhabited areas. The second is the strategy of governance adopted by the central state elites. Strategies of governance determine the extent of the fiscal burden that the central government will place on the population of the state, thereby exerting significant influence on accommodative outcomes. The theoretical framework developed in this dissertation refers to statist (high spending) and laissez-faire (low spending) strategies of governance. The framework is tested in four multinational states: the former Yugoslavia, the former Czechoslovakia, Canada and Spain. The empirical chapters combine structured-focused comparison with longitudinal case study analysis. The cases largely bear out the hypotheses presented in the dissertation. However, analysis of the cases also demonstrates the importance of minority-group influence at the central state level in accounting for accommodative outcomes. In cases where minority elites have extensive influence at the centre, attempts at limiting the autonomy of minority-inhabited regions tend to be unsuccessful. This thesis contributes to a greater understanding of the design and durability of the institutions of territorial autonomy, which have important consequences for the stability and viability of multinational states.
Articles & Book Chapters by Karlo Basta
Studies on National Movements, 2024
While the scholarship on the role capitalism played in the genesis of nationalism is relatively c... more While the scholarship on the role capitalism played in the genesis of nationalism is relatively coherent, our understanding of the relationship between those two phenomena once they have emerged is much more disjointed. Are capitalism and nationalism inherently conflictual or is their relationship a symbiotic one? Under what conditions is one of those two patterns more likely? Clues about this dimension of the link between capitalism and nationalism are not readily available in existing accounts of either phenomenon. The goal of this article, therefore, is to cull and systematize various strands of ideas about how these two phenomena might be connected.
Territory, Politics, Governance, 2023
Recent work on secession foregrounds the loss of autonomy in explaining support for independence.... more Recent work on secession foregrounds the loss of autonomy in explaining support for independence. These theories imply that objective institutional shifts possess inherent meaning for the relevant political actors. In this article we propose that the meaning of institutional change must be actively constructed and cannot be read off the 'objective' characteristics of institutional change. Our analysis of secessionist mobilisation in Catalonia (Spain) between 2003 and 2017 specifies two mechanisms which we argue are necessary in order for institutional change to increase support for secession. First, an institutional shift must be framed as a loss. Second, this loss must be perceived as meriting secession. Thus, institutional change ought to be viewed not as an experience-distant objective phenomenon, but an experience-near social fact.
The Routledge Handbook of Self-Determination and Secession, 2023
Nationalism and Ethnic Politics, 2021
This article explores how the asymmetric institutionalization of the United Kingdom’s multination... more This article explores how the asymmetric institutionalization of the United Kingdom’s multinationality interacted with the COVID-19 pandemic. The UK’s political elite has traditionally accepted the country’s multinational character, but democratic institutionalization of it occurred relatively recently and in a remarkably asymmetric manner. Only the UK’s minority nations possess devolved governments, while the largest nation, England, is governed directly from the center. This framework has consequences for the pandemic response. It has clarified the relevance of devolved legislatures, but also highlights continued resistance of the UK’s governing elite to acknowledge the multi-level character of the state.
n the growing literature on the management of differences in multinational states, institutions (... more n the growing literature on the management of differences in multinational states, institutions (such as territorial autonomy or power-sharing) are typically understood as means through which various stakeholders achieve their goals. This scholarship is largely silent on the expressive and symbolic dimensions of those institutions. This is a major oversight, limiting our understanding of the politics of multinational states. I demonstrate the importance of institutional meaning by exploring the politics of federal a/symmetry in Canada, particularly in response to Quebec’s demands for greater recognition. The article’s central argument is that formal federal symmetry expresses and symbolically reproduces Canadian state nationalism. Attention to the symbolic dimension of state institutions—including federal ones—has the potential to open up new avenues of understanding of both the politics of institutional change in multinational states and the impact such change might have on the stability and inclusiveness of those states.
This chapter examines the role of private big business in the debates on the economic costs and b... more This chapter examines the role of private big business in the debates on the economic costs and benefits of secession in Catalonia, Quebec, and Scotland. It conceptualizes private big business as a unique social actor, one with the incentive, the power, and the legitimacy to challenge secessionist actors' claims about the economic consequences of independence. In addition, it outlines the strategies deployed by secessionist actors to counter or neutralize big business skepticism. The chapter is a conceptual stepping stone toward a larger project on the role of business actors in identity conflicts and social mobilization.
Political Psychology, 2020
Grievance is a prominent feature of mobilization for radical political change. Existing scholarsh... more Grievance is a prominent feature of mobilization for radical political change. Existing scholarship, however, does not pay sufficient attention to the temporal texture of grievance narratives. Temporally “flat” narratives of
grievance are ill equipped to provide either the cognitive or emotional stimulus for major political reorientation. In response to this issue, the article develops the concept of collective exhaustion master frames. These are frames that narrate the aggrieved community’s arrival to a threshold of collective impatience. Such narratives have two functions—to legitimize radical departures from prevailing political habits (a cognitive task) and
to stimulate collective impatience with the political status quo (an emotional management task). In addition to developing the concept of exhaustion frames, the article demonstrates its empirical relevance by outlining five distinctive framing episodes, starting with the U.S. Declaration of Independence. The conclusion outlines the future directions for the study of collective impatience and points to the range of implications for political psychology and adjacent disciplines.
Comparative Political Studies, 2018
Comparative political scientists have sought to remedy their subdiscipline’s structuralist tenden... more Comparative political scientists have sought to remedy their subdiscipline’s structuralist tendencies by paying greater analytical attention to transformative political events. Yet, our conceptual understanding of events remains rudimentary. The article addresses this conceptual gap in two ways. First, it foregrounds symbolic meaning-making as the constitutive attribute of events. Second, it demonstrates that events are not inherently agency-facilitating by developing the concept of prospectively framed events. These are occurrences that actors know will take place, but of whose outcome they are uncertain. Political challengers frame the upcoming event so as to discursively trap incumbents into political action they would rather not undertake. The article demonstrates this process by tracing the conflict between secessionist challengers and political incumbents within the Catalan nationalist movement between 2006 and 2010. The concluding section discusses the causal implications of the argument.
Publius: The Journal of Federalism, 2017
This article addresses the debate about the relative utility of accommodative federalism as a met... more This article addresses the debate about the relative utility of accommodative federalism as a method of conflict management in multinational states. It challenges the 'substantivist' bias of existing literature by demonstrating that symbolic aspects of territorial reform (formal recognition of minority nationhood) may matter more than substantive ones (e.g. shifts in decision rights or resources) in accounting for the escalation of secessionist crises. The argument rests on a comparison between processes of territorial accommodation of Catalonia and Quebec. When autonomy for minority regions is broadened without symbolic recognition, majority elite response unfolds in the policy arena, mostly through attempts to symmetrize autonomy arrangements. However, when combined with formal symbolic recognition of minority nationhood, the extension of territorial autonomy paves the way for majority political backlash. Majority's open political opposition to the minority national project can, in turn, produce a strong secessionist counter-reaction.
AbstractThis article explains the dissolution of Czechoslovak federation. It shows that the break... more AbstractThis article explains the dissolution of Czechoslovak federation. It shows that the breakdown in bargaining between Slovakia and the federal center in Prague resulted from the federal institutional framework, differences in fiscal policy preferences and elite patronage incentives to monopolize the spoils of state property sell-offs. Relatively less developed minority regions often seek greater autonomy in order to redress their economic backwardness through interventionist economic and social policies. Due to its veto powers, Slovakia was able to block central legislation, setting the stage for the divorce. At the same time, the federal government in the center was committed to a laissez-faire strategy of governance, which precluded any significant accommodation of the periphery. (Mostly) Czech politicians understood that yielding to Slovak claims would threaten to undercut their pro-market strategy and diminish Prague's exclusive access to the spoils of market reforms. In terms of the bargaining model, the center was not dependent on the periphery, which possessed a credible exit option. In fact, the periphery was perceived as a hindrance to the center's ability to pursue its fiscal goals and a fast economic transition, and as limiting Prague's exclusive access to a nascent revolving door between the upper echelons in politics and business.
Through a detailed examination of institutional discourses in post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina, th... more Through a detailed examination of institutional discourses in post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina, this article demonstrates that formal political institutions may play a more layered role than is allowed by existing theories of nationalist and ethnic conflict. Competing institutional preferences of Bosniak, Serb, and Croat elites are not simply instruments for the achievement of collective or individual goals. They are symbolically salient expressions of collective identity as well. For Bosniak elites, the stated preference for a non-ethnicized territorial framework and majoritarian central government suggest the vision of a multiethnic, but not institutionally multinational, Bosnian political community. Their Serb and Croat counterparts, by contrast, insist on the continued ‘ethnicization’ of the territorial architecture and the central government apparatus. These preferences express an understanding of Bosnia as a state of three discrete political communities. Any attempts at comprehensive institutional reform must thus reckon with the opposing and deeply embedded visions of institutions-as-symbols. The theoretical implications of this work go well beyond the Bosnian case.
This article offers several interlinked hypotheses aimed at greater understanding of sustainable ... more This article offers several interlinked hypotheses aimed at greater understanding of sustainable internal self-determination (political autonomy) within multinational states. At its core is the argument that political grievances of the largest national collective are a critical element in understanding the possibility of accommodation of claims for internal self-determination. Where majority grievances are intense and directly linked with the claims to self-determination of smaller national communities, self-determination will be a constant source of destabilizing political tensions. The second part of the article posits that even in such circumstances, there are ideational and organizational pathways through which majority grievances can be tempered. I use the example of socialist Yugoslavia and post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina to illustrate this point and suggest future areas for research.
Federalism is an important institutional option for the management of difference in multinational... more Federalism is an important institutional option for the management of difference in multinational states. A number of scholars have argued that the internal boundaries of such states should divide each constituent group into several federal units. In theory, boundary engineering of this type should activate cross-cutting cleavages, subvert secessionist movements and, ultimately, foster political integration and stability. This article, by contrast, demonstrates the conditions under which the subdivision of territorial units can destabilise polities. Where statehood is a central symbol in nationalist narratives of constituent groups, the fragmentation of the sub-state unit will be perceived as a threat to national identity of the group in question. The article compares former Yugoslavia and Nigeria, two cases in which such processes led to divergent outcomes.
Nationalism and Ethnic Politics, Jan 1, 2010
Interviews by Karlo Basta
Interview-Karlo Basta Written by E-International Relations This PDF is auto-generated for referen... more Interview-Karlo Basta Written by E-International Relations This PDF is auto-generated for reference only. As such, it may contain some conversion errors and/or missing information. For all formal use please refer to the official version on the website, as linked below.
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Books by Karlo Basta
When minority nations in multinational states press for more self-government, they are not only looking to protect their interests. They are asking to be recognized as political communities in their own right. Yet satisfying their demands for recognition threatens to provoke a reaction from members of majority nations who see such changes as a symbolic repudiation of their own vision of politics. Secessionist crises flare up when majority backlash reverses symbolic concessions to minority nations. Through a synoptic historical sweep of Canada, Spain, Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia, The Symbolic State shows us that institutions may be more important for what they mean than for what they do.
A major contribution to the study of comparative nationalism and secession, comparative politics, and social theory, The Symbolic State is particularly timely in an era when the power of symbols - exemplified by Brexit, the Donald Trump presidency, and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement - is reshaping politics.
Thesis by Karlo Basta
Articles & Book Chapters by Karlo Basta
grievance are ill equipped to provide either the cognitive or emotional stimulus for major political reorientation. In response to this issue, the article develops the concept of collective exhaustion master frames. These are frames that narrate the aggrieved community’s arrival to a threshold of collective impatience. Such narratives have two functions—to legitimize radical departures from prevailing political habits (a cognitive task) and
to stimulate collective impatience with the political status quo (an emotional management task). In addition to developing the concept of exhaustion frames, the article demonstrates its empirical relevance by outlining five distinctive framing episodes, starting with the U.S. Declaration of Independence. The conclusion outlines the future directions for the study of collective impatience and points to the range of implications for political psychology and adjacent disciplines.
Interviews by Karlo Basta
When minority nations in multinational states press for more self-government, they are not only looking to protect their interests. They are asking to be recognized as political communities in their own right. Yet satisfying their demands for recognition threatens to provoke a reaction from members of majority nations who see such changes as a symbolic repudiation of their own vision of politics. Secessionist crises flare up when majority backlash reverses symbolic concessions to minority nations. Through a synoptic historical sweep of Canada, Spain, Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia, The Symbolic State shows us that institutions may be more important for what they mean than for what they do.
A major contribution to the study of comparative nationalism and secession, comparative politics, and social theory, The Symbolic State is particularly timely in an era when the power of symbols - exemplified by Brexit, the Donald Trump presidency, and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement - is reshaping politics.
grievance are ill equipped to provide either the cognitive or emotional stimulus for major political reorientation. In response to this issue, the article develops the concept of collective exhaustion master frames. These are frames that narrate the aggrieved community’s arrival to a threshold of collective impatience. Such narratives have two functions—to legitimize radical departures from prevailing political habits (a cognitive task) and
to stimulate collective impatience with the political status quo (an emotional management task). In addition to developing the concept of exhaustion frames, the article demonstrates its empirical relevance by outlining five distinctive framing episodes, starting with the U.S. Declaration of Independence. The conclusion outlines the future directions for the study of collective impatience and points to the range of implications for political psychology and adjacent disciplines.