Self-determination is one of the most important and contentious concepts in twentieth century politics and international law. The unstable and contested meaning of self-determination reflects its embeddedness in some of the major geopolitical transformations of the twentieth century, including the demise of European colonial empires and the emergence of transnational indigenous sovereignty movements.

This panel will highlight recent scholarship on the plural histories of self-determination and some of the ways the concept emerged, evolved, and was contested by states, anticolonial and indigenous claimants, and even reactionary political and nationalist movements. It aims to illuminate visions of self-determination that gained widespread legitimacy in international law as well as alternative understandings that only partially succeed or failed entirely.

This panel brings together scholars working on the history of self-determination in the twentieth century from the Pacific to South East Asia to Southern Africa, and from different theoretical and methodological perspectives. Their contributions raise distinct but related questions concerning self-determination’s emergence as a cornerstone of the current global order, and to the diverse visions of sovereignty and human rights underpinning contemporary international law. They will also illuminate the diverse nature of self-determination claims and movements encompassing social and economic development, cultural and political sovereignty, and distinct political formations ranging from state-empires to tiny post-colonial states to white minority regimes.