Which came first: The chicken or the egg? Everything must have started from something. Societies and civilizations do not appear out of nowhere, there has to have been a starting point, but where is the line drawn? The idea of national self-determination seems simple and straightforward at first: the people should have the right to determine their political status and to choose their own sovereign state. However, problems arise when the questions of “who are the people”, “where does this land come
The idea of national self-determination is beneficial to those living in a nation-state, however, the prerequisites required to make it available to many is too difficult to attain. Nation-states are said to be the ideal regime: a system by the people, for the people. However, things in theories do not always work out in practice. In this paper, I will explore concepts regarding self-determination through its definitions, origins, theories, and practices, following with a number of complications
E SSAYS ON TWENTIETH-C ENTURY H ISTORY In the series Critical Perspectives on the Past, edited by Susan Porter Benson, Stephen Brier, and Roy Rosenzweig Also in this series: Paula Hamilton and Linda Shopes, eds., Oral History and Public Memories Tiffany Ruby Patterson, Zora Neale Hurston and a History of Southern Life Lisa M. Fine, The Story of Reo Joe: Work, Kin, and Community in Autotown, U.S.A. Van Gosse and Richard Moser, eds., The World the Sixties Made: Politics and Culture in