Sovereignty

Abstract

AbstractThis chapter uncovers beliefs about self-determination, democratic legitimacy, recognition, and dignity. The dilemma for secessionists from small states in the Caribbean and the Pacific is that not all meanings of sovereignty are mutually reinforcing, and priorities change over time. Becoming smaller may increase autonomy but also lead to increased vulnerability and the loss of international status. The lesson is that sovereignty is not an ‘event’ or a ‘thing’ that communities possess; it is an idea that unfolds. These contradictions do not therefore uncover the hidden hand of rationality in international affairs lurking beneath a sociological logic of appropriateness. Dilemmas necessitate choices but these choices are always embedded in webs of belief.