The “Boomerang Effect” of Kin-state Activism: Cross-border Ties and the Securitization of Kin Minorities

Alexandra Liebich

Journal of Borderlands Studies, 2019, vol. 34, issue 5, 665-684

Abstract: The kin-state phenomenon is often understood as unifying and inclusive: states reach out beyond their borders to engage with co-ethnics living abroad, thus maintaining historic “national” ties, and fostering connections and contacts. But kin-state activism may also be dangerous and conflictual, when a kin-state's transborder projects anger neighboring governments, leading to the securitization of kin minorities and the destabilizing of inter-ethnic and regional relations. Moreover, certain types of kin-state behavior may divide the very communities that it seeks to unite. In post-communist East-Central Europe, Hungary and Russia have been pursuing kin-state activism since the early 1990s, using a range of tools and strategies. In recent years, the actions of both kin-states have had a “boomerang effect,” producing unexpected outcomes for kin minorities and for the kin-state itself. Drawing on evidence from the two cases, this paper explores how kin-state activism can backfire and trigger a securitization of cross-border relations.

Date: 2019
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/08865655.2017.1402202 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:rjbsxx:v:34:y:2019:i:5:p:665-684

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/rjbs20

DOI: 10.1080/08865655.2017.1402202

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Borderlands Studies is currently edited by Emmanuel Brunet-Jailly, Henk van Houtum and Martin van der Velde

More articles in Journal of Borderlands Studies from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().