Self‐determination in comparative perspective: Northern Ireland and South Africa

ABSTRACT

Afrikaner nationalism and Ulster unionism are examples of all‐class coalitions which have sought political self‐expression in contexts of settler history, native majorities, and a metropolitan factor. The idea of self‐determination has been a central theme in articulating the claims and identities of each.

In neither case is the claim to self‐determination unambiguous; emphasis is placed on either “territorial” or “ethno‐cultural” concepts of self‐hood as circumstances dictate. In each case, partition has been used as an expedient to concoct a majority out of a minority. Although in principle the claim is the same in both cases — the withholding of consent to be ruled by “alien” majorities — Afrikaner nationalists achieved full sovereign independence, while Ulster unionists sought to remain (on their own terms) in the British territorial state.