The social basis of separatism: explaining support for the Puerto Rican Independence Movement
Abstract
In the 1990s, particularly in the wake of the fall of the Soviet Union, comparativists rediscovered the enduring appeal of separatist movements around the globe. Many of the most significant political events of the past decade have revolved around issues of nationalism, ethnicity, irredenta, and the like. In light of these renewed preoccupations, it is surprising that U.S. scholars have largely ignored a nationalist movement closer to home. The Puerto Rican independence movement is by far the most significant separatist tendency under the U.S. flag, and is one of the few major anticolonialist movements to survive into the twenty-first century. Although supporters of Puerto Rican independence have typically drawn only three to five percent support in local elections and in plebiscites on the island’s political status, neither have they disappeared from the political scene. The remarkable durability of the independence movement demands systematic explanation. However, as strange as it may seem, to date there have been no serious scholarly studies of the social bases of the Puerto Rican independence movement.Downloads
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
The published material is the property of the Journal, and may be reproduced in whole or in part with indication of the source.
Copyright: Authors will be responsible for obtaining the copyright of the material used. Authors who publish in this journal agree to the following terms:
a)Authors retain the copyright and grant the journal the right of first publication, with the work simultaneously licensed under
the Creative Commons Attribution License which allows the sharing of work with acknowledgment of authorship and initial publication in this journal.
b) Authors are authorized to take additional contracts separately, for non-exclusive distribution of the version of the work published in this journal (eg, publish in institutional repository or as a book chapter), with acknowledgment of authorship and initial publication in this journal.
c) Authors are allowed and encouraged to publish and distribute their work online (eg in institutional repositories or on their personal page) at any point before or during the editorial process, as this can generate productive changes as well as increase the impact and the citation of the published work (See The Effect of Free Access).