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This paper explores the participation and engagement of ethnic groups and minorities in Kosovo’s political and institutional life during the post-war period (after 1999) and the post-independence phase (after 2008). The involvement of minorities in Kosovo’s institutional framework is grounded in the concept of a multiethnic state, with constitutional and legal provisions ensuring their rights. These provisions enable minorities to participate in all areas of state activity within the Republic of Kosovo. The paper addresses how circumstances and opportunities for participation have evolved, the challenges, threats, and risks faced, and what legislative measures have been enacted to ensure the political and institutional representation of ethnic groups and minorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the constitutional promises and practices of self-rule in Ethiopia federal system focusing on the Konso ethnic group's quest for self-rule. Given that the federal project in Ethiopia is a new model (synthesis) that has replaced the failed 'Nation-State' building effort since 1991, self-rule has become the ideological heart of the incumbent party and a pillar of the constitution. To this end, the article used a qualitative research approach that relied on both primary and secondary sources of data. Interviews, field observation, focus group discussions, and document analysis were utilised to obtain data. The findings show that, despite the fact that both the FDRE and SNNPRS constitutions promised "unconditional right to every national, nationality, and people to have the right to self-determination up to secession," the Konso quest for self-rule was rejected, their previous semi-autonomous status was dissolved, and they were relegated to ordinary Woreda. The merger transformed Special Woredas into ordinary Woredas while also shifting nationality self-rule to multi-ethnic self-rule, resulting in a paradigm shift in terms of self-rule practice. The Woredas lack essential identity-related self-government autonomy, such as the capacity to choose the working language and the right to appoint and remove officials as needed. A major source of concern is the decline in capital budgets and the delayed development of infrastructure. As a result, the SNNP regional government has breached both its original ideological vows and the framework of the constitution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Treaty of Lausanne was signed on 24th July 1923 as a peace treaty that ended the first world war for Turkey and the allied powers. In a section entitled "protection of minorities", it provides rights for minorities. However, the beneficiaries of minority rights in Lausanne are more narrow than those provided in other treaties and declarations of the time. With a legal basis in domestic law, Turkey traditionally applied the rights provided in the Lausanne Treaty only for three so-called non-Muslim groups, i.e. Greeks, Armenians and Jews. Neither the Turkish delegation nor the members of the allied forces' delegations could foresee that some members of the Muslim groups of 1923 might quit Islam in the future and recourse to Lausanne rights as new beneficiaries. This article, by referring to preparatory works of the Treaty, examining its legal validity internationally and nationally, and applying interpretative principles of international treaties, argues for the extension of Lausanne rights to other groups via re-interpretation and re-implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study asks whether existing standards of good governance have incorporated ideals and measures to manage communal diversity. The context is an intellectual landscape in which the efficacy of heterogeneity policies has typically been compared through their impact on the likelihood of violent conflict. Alternate approaches would fine‐tune the outcome variable and/or enlist new independent variables. The Ethnic Power Relations project provided measures of the groups' co‐determination position (egip, excl) and measures of empowerment through self‐governing start to follow suit, such as improved indicators of territorial autonomies, decentralization, and language use rights. We also crafted a measure of functional autonomies, based on the ENTA Network's case‐study collection. With the exception of territorial autonomies, all existing measures of policies that accommodate the difference tend to improve the group's relationships with other groups and with the country as a whole. They also correlate well with the general good governance indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Having a strong attachment to Europe might be crucial in understanding support for policies affecting ethnic minorities and migrants arriving in Europe. However, research examining this link is limited. In 4 out of 5 studies (N = 1,469), including correlational and experimental data, we found that greater European attachment was associated with support for restrictive policies such as border closures or increased security. These relationships were consistently explained by higher perceptions of realistic threat. European attachment did not show a significant association with support for inclusive policies such as those promoting the integration of cultural diversity or granting rights to minorities, in 4 out of 5 studies. However, meta-analytical integration of the data revealed a significant averaged indirect relationship: European attachment was associated with less support for inclusive policies via increased realistic threat. We discuss these findings while considering the sociopolitical context and the practical implications for Europe's commitment to human rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to analyze the Islamophobic politics at the heart of citizenship denial in the context of India's CAA-NRC legislation in December 2019 by the Indian Parliament under the leadership of the BJP. The politics of citizenship denial in India thus emerges in appearance as a legal tussle between the Muslim minority citizenship rights and Hindu nationalism in India. However, the biopolitical fracture of the Indian nation-state makes the legal ideal of citizenship further complicated for Muslim minority citizens in India. Tracing the logic of the paradoxical position of Muslim citizenship discourse in India by following its contradictory existence in law, state, and nationalism, this article reveals the limitations of appeal to citizenship, and the necessity need for the question questioning of the biopolitical fracture, wherein the distinction between citizen and non-citizen translates into those with rights and without rights. This article further proposes that rather than sticking to the idealism of citizenship, a critical analysis of Islamophobia and its political correlates must attend to the negative position of the Muslim subject in with respect to the biopolitical fracture at the core of Indian nationalism and the modern nation-state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study attempts to explore the meaning of secularism among the tertiary educated young people and to understand their perception on related issues. This paper follows mixed methods, namely convenience surveys and content analysis of credible secondary sources. From the findings, it is interesting to see that many of them opine about having 'state religion' besides 'secularism' as a basic constitutional principle (61.9%/38.1%). They believe in equal treatment for all minority religions, while at the same time they share their perception of giving priority to 'Islam' as the dominant religion (57.1%), which could be labelled ' paradoxical '. This article argues that the ideological perception is going into transition among the young people in Bangladesh with the transition of socio-economic context, which is different from the previous linear understanding of pro-secular and anti-secular dynamics. This paper also provides some pragmatic way outs from young people on how to secure the rights of minority religions in Bangladesh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Armenian Apostolic Christians in Istanbul implicitly assert their "right to the city" through the liturgical itinerary that moves around the megalopolis of Istanbul. Though the right to the city has been taken up in a plethora of ways, its applicability to religion and religious practices is underexplored. While many Armenians in the Republic of Turkey explicitly take up the language of rights, the urban liturgical movements described in this article do not sit easily with either ideas of universal human rights or the minority rights framework operative in the Republic of Turkey. The concept of the right to the city, which already sits at the limits of conventional notions of rights, helps articulate how these religious practices claim an urban minority presence. By considering Armenian Christian liturgical practice in Istanbul simultaneously as "stational liturgy" and as a claim to the "right to the city," this article offers an ethnographic account of urban minority presence‐making that encounters the legal strictures of rights discourse without being fully enmeshed in them. In so doing, the article uses the ethnography to make a broader argument about the limits of rights discourse to account fully for forms of presence‐making that are grounded in minority traditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the coevolution between the development of British constitutional rights and the status of social and minority groups in planning London since its first post-WWII comprehensive plan. The study employed a historical document analysis by scrutinizing major London urban plans, pertinent British legislation, and constitutional rights enactments to uncover the evolution of urban planning amid a changing rights-based constitutional landscape. The study concludes that the status of social and minority groups within London's urban planning is not solely a product of planning approaches but is significantly shaped by the prevailing political and constitutional frameworks regarding minority rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is devoted to the analysis of public administration in the field of national minorities rights protection. The author analyzes the system of authorities aimed at protecting the national minorities interests and nationalities in Ukraine. The Committee on Nationalities under the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine was the first ukrainian central state body of the executive power, entrusted with the functions of ensuring ethno-national policy and protecting the national minorities interests. It is emphasized that the structure of public authorities protecting the rights of national minorities was not limited exclusively to the activities of the specialized central executive body. The positions of Advisor to President on ethno-national problems of Crimea and Advisor to President on the affairs of the Ukrainian diaspora were introduced. At the regional (oblast) level, the Republican Committee for Nationalities and Deported Citizens of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea operates, as well as the relevant subdivisions at the local level-nationalities and migration departments of regional state administrations. The situation changed with the switch of the state policy vector from pro-Russian to pro-European. This was not least due to the recommendations of the OSCE and the need to converge with the acquis communautaire of the European Union. National minorities rights protection has been in focus since the independence of Ukraine. Establishing and functioning of the relevant Ministry (Committee) on National Minorities is a direct confirmation of this thesis. This issue was always in focus of the Ukrainian governments besides the period of the rule of the pro-Russian government (2010-2014), when most of the state institutions for the protection of national minorities were liquidated. This fact determined the revolutionary events of the Euromaidan (2014) to some extent. As of today, Ukraine fulfills its obligations regarding the protection of the national minorities rights. The current central authority (State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience, DESS) was formed in accordance with the recommendations of the OSCE and taking into account the experience of the EU member-states. Its status is lower in the executive power hierarchy. However, its scope of competence and its actual activity best serves the interests of the national minorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article looks at the classification and treatment of indigenous peoples and minorities’ rights under the United Nations. In particular, it explores what the differences between indigenous and minorities, and the differences and similarities between activism for indigenous and minority rights under the United Nations umbrella are. It concludes by proposing recommendations for change so that advocacy for these rights and implementation of them can be better addressed especially in the current climate where conflicts and the associated displacements pose more urgent risks to those rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Legal and policy categorizations of group belonging play an important role in analysing lived experiences of discrimination, since the scope of minority protection requires individuals to prove their belonging to a minority group. This article maps the existing classifiers of minority identification as they are used in the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, Europe's most comprehensive treaty designed to protect the rights of national minorities. I engage with the concept of ethnicity as a "knot of distinction", looking at which minorities qualify as "national" in different countries. When is ethnicity used as a proxy for religion, when for race, and when for language? What categories are omitted? By inductively analysing the rationales presented by different EU countries of which minorities are "national", and based on which grounds, this article reveals a messy, historically and politically driven picture, but one that can help us understand some regional patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most academic scholars of the Muslim Brotherhood and like-minded Islamist organisations seem to agree that these groups have come to accept the nation state and the rules of the democratic game over the past few decades. At the same time, several scholars have shown in their work that reforms and developments among Islamists with regard to the state and democracy have not been accompanied by similar trends on religious minority rights and especially women's rights. The long-held Islamist ideal of an Islamic state in which Islam provides the identity of the state remains difficult to square with full and equal citizenship for non-Muslims. Similarly, Islamists have been willing to make concessions with regard to women's rights by reinterpreting Islamic tradition, but this has not moved as far as their revisionism with regard to the state and democracy. What is holding them back? The objective of this special issue is to begin to answer this question through various case studies, all of which focus on gaining greater insight into (the development of) views on the rights of religious minorities and women among non-violent Islamists since the Islamic revival in the Middle East and North Africa in the 1960s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this research article is to analyze Mohsin Hamid's well-known book "The Reluctant Fundamentalist" in light of multiculturalism, utilizing James Troutman's theoretical framework. The main character, Changez, is a perfect example of how the author depicts concerns about racism, discrimination, identity crises, and violations of human rights that minority communities experience. In order to address racial, ethnic, religious, economic, social, political, and psychological aspects of multiculturalism, the research incorporates a number of epistemological viewpoints from fields such as sociology, anthropology, political science, psychology, and education. It looks at important issues, patterns, and debates in this field. The primary analytical method in this qualitative study is textual analysis, which provides interpretive insights into the research question. Thematic textual analysis is employed to interpret the intricacy; this involves steps such as familiarization, coding, subject generation, theme evaluation, definition, naming, and write-up. The book depicts a number of issues, including racism, identity crises, human rights violations, and prejudice against minority communities. Changez, the main character, serves as an excellent example. The results highlight problems like prejudice against minorities, the brittleness of institutional and political institutions, and the identity crisis that characters in the book like Changez go through. Themes of prejudice, rejection, and identity crises are also highlighted. In addition to providing aesthetic pleasure, the study suggests that more research into these matters enables a more thorough analysis of the text using a variety of theoretical frameworks, including psychological, post-colonial, deconstructionist, and cultural theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reconsiders liberal nationalism in light of the current autocratic nationalist threat. I argue that liberal nationalism cannot redress the social ailments which acclimatize people to the sorts of no-holds-barred political contestation favoured by autocratic nationalists – excessive polarization. I then argue that liberal nationalists do not recognize the degree to which 'in-group' racial solidarity motivates members of the racial/ethnic majority to preserve their status, and that the liberal nationalist approach to defending minorities' rights therefore risks either emboldening the majority to embrace autocracy or consolidating social hierarchies between the majority and minorities. On these bases, I show that democrats must seek to not only detach race/ethnicity from nationality but also redress those problematic racial/ethnic hierarchies. This suggests the need to develop liberal nationalism into multiculturalist nationalism. Multiculturalist nationalism, however, promises a sort of bounded solidarity that does not include all citizens: it makes use of targeted political antagonism against anti-democrats like White supremacists and Identitarians to help diffuse any social antagonism that might exist among minorities, inclusive members of the majority, and cultural conservatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under what conditions do states protect minority rights in a context of domestic resistance? Recent decades have seen rapid divergence on LGBT rights worldwide, with Africa presented as "norms antipreneur" in the face of international pressure. Yet, in 1996, South Africa was the first country in the world to provide constitutional protection on grounds of sexual orientation. This article develops an original theory on LGBT rights protection using a conflict-to-rights framework. Employing process tracing, elite interviews and archival sources, I show how a situation of insurgency allows LGBT activists to build networks and increase egalitarian attitudes to attain in-group status. Continued violence also works to block public participation in policy-making while dividing opposition forces, allowing a tiny group of activists to effectively lobby for change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The minority question has long been a hot topic in Central and Eastern Europe. Whereas most CEE countries guarantee the privileged position of the dominant nation, they also recognize the existence of national minorities and provide special rights for them. Hence there is an apparent contradiction between the values of the nation-states: unity and diversity. This article proposes that to resolve this contradiction, it is necessary to define the concept, scope and limitations of group-specific minority rights, as well as their relationship with other human rights and the nation-state. Constitutional courts are appropriate candidates for this task. However, based on our analysis of the relevant constitutional jurisprudence of five CEE countries – Croatia, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, and Slovenia – it seems that constitutional courts in the region have failed to properly conceptualize minority rights. Instead of developing appropriate tests for assessing the constitutionality of legal regulations, they have only superficially touched upon the conceptual issues of minority rights, using incidental, case-by-case arguments to justify the (un)constitutionality of the legal provisions. Therefore, this article also attempts to outline a constitutionality test that may be suitable for constitutional courts to consistently evaluate submissions that challenge the constitutionality of laws on minority rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the political landscape of war-torn Ukraine, focusing on the country's core domestic problems. The war in Ukraine has led to a significant deterioration of Ukraine's political landscape. While victory on the battlefield is Ukraine's utmost priority, escalating internal problems pose additional challenges. With Ukraine having obtained EU candidate status, these problems have moved to a new level on the EU's membership agenda. The most urgent of these is endemic corruption, which has gained fresh momentum during the war and has put foreign aid at risk. As the costs of the war grow, international pressure on the Ukrainian authorities to show better results increases. Accountability and transparency should become the guiding principles of the reconstruction and recovery processes to maintain Western support and ensure effective postwar reconstruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Majority respect for the political rights of minorities is an important value undergirding peace and political stability in societies. This study examines whether intolerance for minority political rights affects the likelihood that an individual has engaged in violent activities for political causes. Using public opinion data from 11 Arab countries, the study finds that Muslim residents who interpret Islam to mandate inferior political rights to their non-Muslims compatriots are more likely to have engaged in political violence in the past three years. Moreover, the effect of attitudes toward non-Muslim political rights on engagement in political violence is unaffected by subject support for Islamic government/rule, attitudes about democracy and Islamic government, interpretation of Shari'a and general intolerance of or bigotry against non-Muslims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The protection of the rights of national minorities has always been a topic of interest at the international level, but more importantly at the national level, still remaining a topical subject in the contemporary legal landscape. Made out of the need to contribute to the continuous promotion of the protection of the rights of national minorities, through the correct understanding of the legal nature and content of the rights specific to this category of persons, present work, structured in three sections, offers the opportunity to respond to concerns in the field of human rights protection, in general, and the protection of the rights of national minorities at the international level and at the level of the Romanian constitutional system, in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bhutan has attracted international attention by pioneering the Gross National Happiness index, gaining a reputation for promoting holistic societal well-being instead of the more typical focus on economic growth. Yet a decade and a half since becoming a democracy, Bhutan is experiencing growing pains. A dearth of job opportunities has prompted more young people to emigrate. And minority rights are still not secure, particularly those of Nepali-speakers, after many were declared noncitizens in the 1990s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study shines a light on the problem of Catalan secessionist leaders' abuse of the term "democracy", an issue rarely discussed in the academic debate. The Catalan secessionist case has mainly been studied as a problem concerning the principle of territorial integrity and how it relates to the existence (or otherwise) of a right of self-determination for a substate entity. However, it is also a problem of democracy. For the entire secessionist process was based on a democratic principle outside and against the Spanish Constitution: one that defends the supremacy and inviolability of the (regional, in this case) parliamentary majority over the rule of law and respect for minority rights. It thus pitted a radical or identity-based democracy against the democracy protected and promoted by the Council of Europe (in which the rule of law, human rights and democracy are inseparable principles forming a single whole). The Venice Commission, the European Court of Human Rights and a divided Parliamentary Assembly have all witnessed this defence of authoritarianism through the radical democratic principle advocated by the leaders of the Catalan process. In response, the first two have defended constitutional democracy, the common heritage on which European public order is based. In 2021, the PACE took a short-lived position (it has adopted no further resolutions in this sense), buoyed by a weak majority, in favour of the Catalan radical democratic principle. Two years later, however, it, too, would defend constitutional democracy as the "genuine democracy" to which the 1949 Treaty of London refers, albeit again by a slim majority. The study concludes that there is no place for the radical democratic principle in Council of Europe law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the corporate structure in China is characterised by the domination of state ownership, the beneficial effects of takeovers have motivated the legislator to regulate them. The aim of this article is to compare Chinese takeover regulation with EU takeover regulation and to discover the peculiarities and possible reasons for them. Due to the fact that the EU Directive on takeover bids is quite general in certain parts, for the sake of more accurate comparison, the legislation of Austria, Croatia, Germany and the UK has been taken into consideration when appropriate. The results of the comparison show that certain provisions of EU takeover regulation provide significant protection for minority stakeholders, which can potentially hinder takeovers. In contrast, at the cost of the protection of minority shareholders, Chinese legislators have opted to maximise the efficiency of takeovers that are deemed to be in the interest of the state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study is to delve into the gradual rise of the Hindu nationalism its effects on Indian Muslims in contemporary era. Historically, Nationalism has been crucial element in changing the socio-political dynamics of the South Asian region. India emerged as a secular state after its independence from colonial powers. It became the largest democracy in the world. Almost after three decades Bahartiya Janta Party (BJP) emerged as a Hindu Nationalist party. It paved its way by igniting the Anti-Muslim hatred and Hindu nationalist sentiments. This Hindutva tide affected all the minorities existing in India especially the Muslims through its different movements and policies. Gujarat riots, Ayodhya dispute and Ram Janmabhoomi incidents have been taken into account as case studies to get deeper insight. Moreover, the recent election campaign of BJP and its propagation of Hindutva doctrine to win elections is also examined. Qualitative research methods have been used to assess and analyze the data. This study can provide insights for policymakers, educators, minority rights activists and individuals seeking to navigate the rise of Hindu Nationalism and its impacts on Muslims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A corporation controlled by a majority shareholder may engage in selfdealings that harm the interests of the minority shareholders. If a minority shareholder challenges the decision in court, what should be the appropriate methods for judicial decision-making? Theoretically, courts can choose between balancing or structured decision-making. Existing studies show that balancing has signifcant advantages over structured decision procedures in antitrust, discrimination law, and constitutional law. This article develops an economic theory to illustrate the advantages of structured decision-making in the context of corporate law. In Delaware, courts have adopted the structured decision-making method in the protection of minority shareholders. The underlying rationale for Delaware courts’ approach can be illustrated using the law and economics theory of property rule and liability rule protection for minority rights. Delaware courts have essentially applied a combination of property rules and liability rules, an approach that this article refers to as “structured pliability rules,” to protect minority shareholders. Courts can incorporate the consent of minority shareholders into their judicial rulings through the implementation of structured decision-making approaches, thereby altering the probabilities of success for various parties depending on whether the decision has received approval from a majority of minority shareholders. The theory of structured pliability rules presented in this article has significant explanatory and normative implications. It explains the underlying rationale of Delaware law regarding self-dealings, offers normative guidance for the design of judicial decision-making methods in appraisal actions, and provides insights on enhancing corporate law in other jurisdictions. Furthermore, this article contends that structured pliability rules should extend beyond corporate self-dealings and be applied in other scenarios involving majority-minority conficts. It further explores the potential application of structured pliability rules in the judicial review of constitutional law pertaining to takings. In cases where a government intends to expropriate private lands, courts should employ distinct decision-making rules based on the level of approval among the affected landowners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union (EU) and its member states have played a significant role in South Asia, consequently aligning with its fundamental principles, e.g., the rule of law, respect for human rights and minority rights, good governance, democracy, and equality based on values like inclusion, tolerance, justice, solidarity, and non-discrimination. The EU has always supported the promotion and consolidation of democracy, not only in South Asia but also across the world. In this sense, the study examines the EU's democracy promotion initiatives in association with its programmes. This study addresses the literature gaps in the comparison of the EU's democratic intervention with references from past and present perspectives. The article further investigates challenges in the region in the context of rising populism and satrapy in South Asia and its neighbourhoods. Afghanistan and Myanmar are the best examples of the current scenario. However, the rise of populist government has already been raised in Europe to challenge a liberal democracy, where positioning the EU's role in democracy initiatives is questionable in terms of credibility and impactful promises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migration has been one of the most significant challenges faced by humanity throughout history. Since 2011, the number of immigrants coming to Türkiye has increased significantly due to the Syrian Civil War and other regional conflicts. This situation has brought the issue of migration to the forefront in Türkiye and has influenced perceptions of immigrants. This research aims to understand the role of religion in shaping views on immigration. The perspective on the choice to migrate raises questions about the impact of Islam, which upholds minority rights and promotes altruistic values, such as generosity and hospitality, on the perception of immigrants. However, within the historical context of the Republic of Türkiye, the secular segment harbours negative perceptions of Islam, which could extend to unfavourable views of Muslim emigrants from Syria. The research will be conducted using the document analysis method and a qualitative research approach. Through the analysis of these documents, the research aims to identify the influences of Islam on the perception of immigrants. This note seeks to understand both the positive and negative effects of religion and uncover the underlying factors behind these influences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the concept of shareholder oppression in closely held corporations, using the TV show Succession as an example. It explains that minority shareholders in these corporations often face challenges when majority shareholders take actions that harm their interests. These actions can include withholding dividends, restricting employment, and denying access to information. Minority shareholders have limited options for relief, as state laws do not provide default buyout or dissolution rights. Courts can offer remedies such as dissolution or appointing a custodian, depending on the circumstances. If Kendall's ouster involved denial of his financial or participatory rights, a shareholder oppression action may be part of his lawsuit. [Extracted from the article]

Committees of inquiry, in related literature, are often called as 'sharpest sword' of the opposition. However, this sharpness is highly dependent on how much rights the opposition is effectively provided by the fine details of the procedural rules, and whether these rights are justiciable. According to the German model, the inquiry must be launched if a quarter of the MPs require it, and the opposition enjoys minority rights also during the inquiry. Many countries implemented the first, but not the second element in their parliamentary procedures (Hungary, Kosovo, Albania, Lithuania), which led to ineffective inquiries. The only positive example for a successful transplant of the mandatory minority initiative for launching an inquiry is the neighbouring country, Austria. In most of the other countries, the majority is more effective in conducting inquiries, and, lacking judicial remedies, the opposition cannot put its right to inquiry in practice effectively. It seems that the mandatory minority initiative hardly works properly outside its original home country, Germany, and the only successful transplant country, Austria. Another evidence that legal transplants cannot survive if the legal environment and culture is not fertile and developed enough. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The article explores the dynamics of the upcoming 2024 European Parliament elections, focusing on the anticipated rise of far-right parties and its potential impact on European politics. Topics include the unique structure of the European Parliament, the historical context of European elections, and the projected electoral outcomes in light of recent geopolitical events and ideological shifts.

In Western political philosophy, democracy is generally the dominant view regarding what the best form of government is, and this holds even in respect to promoting minority rights. However, I argue that there is a better theory for satisfying minority interests and rights. I amass numerous studies from the social sciences demonstrating how democracy does poorly in accounting for minority interests. I then contend that a particular hybrid view that fuses a meritocracy with democracy can do a better job than democracy in accounting for minority interests and in having more equal rights and fair policies coming from the legislative and executive branches. Finally, I defend this thesis from numerous counters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses a case study to critically reflect on contemporary discourses in Norway connected to ethnic minority childhoods and children's rights to education and work. Based on a narrative interview with an ethnic minority girl, Sadja (aged 16), who is in state custody and lives with a foster family, we use a decolonial lens to explore the tensions in expectations and rights in her life and education. The tensions encountered are situated along three axes. The first axis illustrates tensions related to education, work, and responsibilities, as Sadja's family responsibilities are perceived by teachers and child welfare workers as preventing her from having "a proper childhood". The second axis explores tensions connected to independence, educational choice, and "belonging to the state", where Sadja experiences that being in state custody results in being unable to "follow her dream". The third axis reflects the tensions between parental expectations of "dreaming big" versus her surrounding environment's anticipation of her simply getting a job. In sum, Sadja's experiences suggest that contemporary Western discourses—such as individualism, self-autonomy, and children as human capital—paradoxically curtail the educational rights and trajectories of ethnic minority children in foster care in Norway in unforeseen and unfortunate ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internationally, particularly in Western societies, the concept of multiculturalism tends to be associated with 'progressive' and liberal social visions promoting cultural diversity and minority rights. However, multiculturalism may not necessarily be a 'cure' for social division, but a 'veil' that covers political fractures and imbalances within society. This study critically investigates the multiple interpretations of multiculturalism through language education in Taiwan. In recent years, the Taiwanese debate over multiculturalism has been deeply intertwined with political agendas related to cross-strait relations, reflecting a desire to signal Taiwan's alignment with international (mainly Western) discourse and practice on human rights. Focusing on the area of language education, this study examines how Taiwanese policy interprets multiculturalism and incorporates culturally diverse elements into the formal school curriculum. By shedding light on the politics behind multiculturalism, it discusses the identity politics behind the multicultural rhetoric and the political implications of curricular attempts to promote multilingualism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to address the main changes and transformations of lgbti activism at the subnational level in Mexico that were effective in persuading decision makers and achieving the institutionalization of the rights of sexual minorities in adverse contexts, where there is a strong presence of sectors conservatives of the Catholic Church and political parties who openly implemented actions in order to oppose its recognition. Starting from a case analysis with an emphasis on tracking processes, it is argued that the recognition and institutionalization of the main lgbti demands were achieved, among other things, by qualitative, symbolic and discourse changes that occurred within the activism. Particularly in populations such as the trans, which historically was an invisible stratum and with a marginal position in activism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between the end of World War I and the Mecca World Muslim Congress of 1926, Soviet officials and Indian Muslim thinkers imagined the possibilities of a post-imperial world through the Hijaz. The All-India Khilafat Committee (AIKC; established 1919), an organization led by prominent Indian Muslim thinkers, and the Soviet Union promoted competing projects to protect the Hijaz, home to some of Islam's holiest shrines, against European imperialism. Yet, far from limiting themselves to the question of who should rule the Hijaz, the AIKC and the Soviet state engaged in broader debates about religious and social difference, sovereignty, and minority rights. Whereas the AIKC imagined the Hijaz as an international Muslim republic and a place of refuge for Muslims worldwide, Soviet officials contended that the political future of Muslims should only be settled within the framework of ethno-territorial nation-states. Ironically, the programs of both the AIKC and the Soviet state denied the right of self-determination to Hijazis themselves, leaving the region's inhabitants to choose between two forms of external oversight: a Soviet-supported Saudi ethno-territorialism or limited domestic autonomy under the management and inspection of an international Muslim Council. With very few exceptions, past scholarship on the Hijaz in this period has analyzed the region's political fortunes through Saudi statecraft or European colonial influence. However, Soviet and Indian Muslim experimental engagement with the Hijaz ultimately proved just as crucial to the consolidation of Saudi governance over the region. The article arrives at these novel insights by bringing rare Soviet archival documents together with the Urdu proceedings of the AIKC's delegation to the Hijaz, as well as Arabic sources from the period in question. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On 22 February 2024, the Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities published a critical opinion on Latvia within the framework of the fourth monitoring cycle. This text is centred on government comments as an important element of the standardised FCNM monitoring mechanisms provided by the Latvian Government during the four monitoring circles. This study identifies and assesses the key arguments and techniques employed by Latvia in this sectoral dialogue framework. It shows that the Latvian authorities view diversity as a threat to social cohesion, and their endeavours, inter alia, in the minority education domain, combine references to Latvia’s traumatic historical experience, constitutional identity, and the margin of state discretion that camouflage the absence of political will to advance minority rights. Among other negative factors, this signals a dangerous path that could likely be followed by other states that are parties to this Convention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The legal protection of religious diversity is strewn with difficulties and uncertainties. The re-emergence of religiously motivated demands points to the need to better define the relationship between the legal protection of human rights and religious diversity. The current applicable laws and regulations come from different historical or national contexts, which presents a confusing landscape that calls for a better definition of the protection afforded by the different rights at stake. This article uses a general normative analysis to propose extending the scope of religious minorities to any religious affiliation that does not represent the majority of the population of a given state. This involves shifting from a paradigm of specific protection for certain minorities to one in which all minorities are protected through the universally recognized rights of freedom of religion and nondiscrimination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides a comprehensive economic and legal analysis of the position of national minorities in the labour market. To do this, a comparative analysis of the socio-economic and legal status of national minorities is carried out and an analysis of the situation of national minorities in the labour market is conducted while taking into account real and declarative indicators of the level of employment, which were determined by the author's survey and field experiment. It has been proven that discrimination in the labour market is characteristic of certain, but not all, groups of national minorities, in particular, the Roma. It is believed that the efficiency of the labour market of national minorities also affects tax revenues and the distribution of social costs. Ensuring equal opportunities for these groups contributes to the creation of stable social conditions, reducing the costs of social assistance and increasing the efficiency of social capital. The study of the labour market of national minorities also takes into account the importance of socio-economic stability. The main causes of discrimination of representatives of ethno-national groups in the labour market are singled out, and economic and legal measures to stimulate inclusion in the labour market are defined. Through the author's survey and the field method of fictitious questionnaires, the discrimination of certain groups of national minorities in Ukraine, among them Moldovans and especially the Roma, was proven, and it was proved that the unemployment rate in the region provokes an almost proportional decrease in the number of responses from employers from representatives of national minorities. The field of employment was not a significant factor in indicating certain features of discrimination based on the field of the labour market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The EU invests immense resources to promote human rights in a number of societies outside of its borders. Notably, the European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement focus on societies right next to the EU and with the potential to become an EU member states. In this chapter, we will focus on the cost of human rights in post-conflict societies, with a focus on the Western Balkans and Kosovo. If we understand the case of Kosovo, we will be better prepared to understand the costs the EU is ready to invest in countries such as Ukraine or any other country in its neighbourhood. The non-recognition of Kosovo by the UN and the EU places it in a very interesting legal and political disambiguation that makes the assistance of the EU vital. The EU-run EULEX mission in Kosovo, its mandate, costs and also corruption scandals put an additional burden and cost on its work. The future success and integrity of the EU run Kosovo Specialist Chambers, which should finalise the justice efforts in Kosovo are at stake due to a declining support for EULEX from both the Kosovo Serbs and Albanians. The corruption allegations of EULEX put in danger the future work of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers and the costs the EU bears. If EULEX fails it will come at a very high cost for the EU and even the already very low level of human and minority rights in Kosovo could not be further guaranteed. The final implementation of informal agreements regarding Kosovo in the form of The Brussels Agreement from 2013 and The Washington Agreement from 2020 having only a partial implementation success is a challenge for the rule of law in Kosovo. The future of post-conflict development is gaining a new shape and its formation is something we are able to witness and follow in Kosovo, through the lenses through which the EU supports is coming with all its various challenges and possible shortcomings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to shed light on the effects of financial constraints on the value shareholders attribute to cash holdings in firms listed on the Brazilian stock exchange, where corporate law determines that publicly listed companies set aside part of their annual profits for dividend payments. While prior empirical literature provides evidence that cash holdings are more valuable for financially constrained companies than for their unconstrained counterparts, we cannot support the hypothesis that the market value of cash increases as obtaining access to external funds becomes more difficult. Our analysis also reveals that constrained companies do not hold significantly higher cash savings than their unconstrained peers. This last result, in turn, is not in line with the precautionary motive for having cash. Moreover, although the principal argument for adopting mandatory dividend rules in Brazil was to increase the protection of minority shareholders, we observe that the contribution of cash holdings to firm value is still small in Brazil, especially in dual‐class companies, because investors expect cash holdings to be partly consumed as private benefits due to the presence of significant agency problems. This research is relevant because it serves as an additional step in understanding how a legal mechanism established by a government to protect investors affects the contribution of cash holdings to firm value. Governments that intend to adopt mandatory dividend rules to safeguard the cash‐flow rights of minority shareholders can use our findings to make better decisions regarding whether to enforce compulsory dividend payments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Article 19 TFEU's unanimity requirement shares a striking similarity with a two-century old debate on voting and minority rights between the 'father' of the US Constitution, James Madison, and the 'rebellious son', John C. Calhoun. Madison made majority voting a necessary condition for impartial lawmaking and minority protection in multistate unions. Conversely, Calhoun sought to maintain the racial status quo through advocating for a competing unanimity-based structure. Minority protection in Article 19 TFEU aligns with Calhoun's model. This Article reassesses Article 19 TFEU through the foundational principles of constitutionalism underlying the US debate and shows their continued relevance for contemporary case law and minority protection in the EU. Particularly, it demonstrates, first, that Article 19 offends the impartiality principle of nemo judex in causa sua —no person should judge their own cause—which has long been a leitmotiv in Western constitutional theory. Second, it illustrates that unanimity causes de jure and de facto ramifications for ethnic and religious minorities in the EU. Last, the Article provides a theoretically grounded and comparatively informed argument to aid ongoing attempts for treaty amendment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Though the term originated in the early twentieth century, it is only recently "wokeness" has become a staple of British media discourse. Typically, the concept features in commentaries and exchanges about institutional power, censorship, minority rights/representation, and structural racism, i.e. "culture wars" discourses. Polling suggests that the public considers wokeness a threat despite lacking clarity or consensus on its specific meaning. This study addresses this ambiguity, combining an analysis of coverage in the UK press with posts on Twitter and a questionnaire, asking UK respondents to define and exemplify wokeness. All samples revealed a multi-faceted concept observed at individual, group, cultural and corporate levels. A range of positive and negative framings were found, e.g. awareness and compassion vs. weakness and puritanism. Broader narratives constructed around wokeness include aspirational traits, moral posturing, a modern secular religion, and an insurgent "woke agenda." These offer insights into how the concept is characterised and operationalised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Tarih İncelemeleri Dergisi is the property of Tarih Incelemeleri Dergisi and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article examines Ukraine's ethno-national policies and their efficacy in protecting the rights of ethnic, linguistic, and religious minorities. The study utilizes a qualitative approach, combining content analysis of academic literature with legal analysis of domestic legislation and international norms on minority protections. It highlights the discrimination and rights violations experienced by certain groups, especially Crimean Tatars under Russian occupation. Perspectives from criminology and legal theory are applied to analyze causative factors enabling abuse. The article concludes by proposing recommendations to enhance legal protections, strengthen accountability mechanisms, increase minorities' political participation, and implement comprehensive anti-discrimination reforms. Effective implementation of ethno-policies requires acknowledging minorities' concerns, ensuring their representation in governance, and upholding principles of multiculturalism. The study contributes to scholarly discourse on managing diversity and underscores the urgency of rights protections in conflict-affected states like Ukraine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents how the appraisal right, with the concept of the fair value which includes synergies, has worked in Japanese corporate law. The appraisal right gives dissenting shareholders the ability to protect their interests. The Delaware courts calculate a fair value by excluding synergy effects in appraisal proceedings. One can criticise the exclusion of synergies because the petitioners of the appraisal right might receive less than the merger price. It would be interesting to analyse how the situation changes if the fair value includes synergies. Japanese corporate law gives a good illustration for this. The revision of the Companies Act of Japan in 2005 enhanced the role of the appraisal right by empowering the Court to include synergy value into the determination of fair value. However, Japan's Court developed the doctrine to use the deal price as a fair value with a relatively lax review of the fairness of the deal process. This has resulted in an unattractive situation for petitioners of appraisal remedies, because they rarely gain profits through the appraisal remedy. Empowering minorities in black letter law does not necessarily strengthen minority protection in reality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]