Identity and Territorial Autonomy in Plural Societies

Focusing on approaches to autonomy in countries whose societies are marked by ethnic diversity, this study examines the effects of territorial solutions to the safeguarding of cultural identities.

Studying the problem from a cross-national and analytical perspective, the contributors distinguish among the types of autonomy and their impact on pluralism, democracy and the unity of the state.

Post-Franco Spain, in the process of continuing democritization, has become important as a "laboratory" of institutional accomodation of ethnic and regional identities, and the second section concentrates on that country's attempts to steer a middle course between federalism and forms of decentralization.

The study contains case studies dealing with questions of nationalism, autonomy and identity in Kosovo, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, British Columbia and Africa.