The concept of micro-nationalism and why there are so-called ‘micro-nations’ across the globe is multi-faceted.
Although there are hundreds, perhaps thousands of micro-nations, almost every one has been formed and operates slightly differently from the rest. MicroWiki is a website dedicated to listing micro-nations which have declared secession from macro-nations – you can view the list here. We’ve also started to compile a list of interesting micro-nations here.
Some micro-nations, including many of those in the MicroWiki list, have declared themselves to be separate from the ‘approved’ and ‘recognized’ nation-states (macro-nations) that operate within the mainstream macro-economic and socio-political systems of the world.
Members of these micro-nations may exist in a twilight zone, sometimes with one foot in the nation-state they were once citizens of, and the other foot within their own micro-nation. Unfortunately their members can never be fully ‘outside’ of the macro-systems because they are rarely if ever self-sufficient in every way, so in order to acquire food or supplies, they must sometimes trade or interact with the macro-systems and use ‘approved’ fiat currencies for payment, in order to survive.
Other ‘micro-nations’ are simply groups of people with distinct historical or cultural characteristics, who have usually had to fight and continue to fight for their rights to sovereignty, their historical rights to land, and/or to be recognised as indigenous peoples, despite some or all of their members still living geographically and politically within the clutches of ‘approved’ nation-states.
These groups do not always consider themselves to be fully-fledged micro-nations, although often the pursuance of freedom, self-determination and sovereignty are common to both micro-nations and indigenous groups. You can read more about the concept of indigenous, and the rights of indigenous peoples here and here.
Rarely, if ever, do the mainstream political leaders and the macro-systems fully recognise these micro-nations or indigenous groups. It’s as if ordinary people are imprisoned within the macro socio-political and financial systems, and in order to escape their control, we have to come up with creative methods to take back our inalienable rights to self-determination, which are often trampled on in the names of globalism, macro-nationalism and progress.
Let’s now consider some FAQs about micro-nationalism and micro-nations.
Q: If a micro-nation isn’t formally recognised by macro-powers like the government of the country the micro-nation has seceded from, or by macro-organisations like the United Nations, does the micro-nation actually exist and can the micro-nation claim to exist?
A: In terms of international treaties, yes the micro-nation does have a right to claim to exist, in theory at least. In practice, some may argue that the micro-nation should always inform macro-powers that they are seceding, so that the macro-powers have knowledge of the micro-nation’s intentions. You can read more about nations versus micro-nations here.
Q: Why would some micro-nations claim to exist without having informed macro-bodies and macro-organisations?
A: There are various reasons why a declared micro-nation may decide that self-declaration and self-determination are enough reason for their micro-nation to be considered as existing. Some micro-nations abhor the idea that they must ‘ask permission’ from macro-powers to exist, because all people on earth have the same inalienable rights and we shouldn’t need to seek approval from anyone in order to live in ways in tune with Natural Law.
Chloros states this about Natural Law: “The traditional view of natural law is that it is a body of immutable rules superior to positive law [laid down statutes and legislation]. It is ideal law since it consists of the highest principles of morality towards which humanity is striving.” [1958].
Q: Why would anyone want to secede from a recognized nation-state?
A: It could be argued that a macro-nation provides for and protects its citizens, as long as those citizens comply with numerous laws, policies and diktats like paying taxes, obeying laws and rules, and not upsetting the status quo.
However, times are different now, and particularly since 2020, it’s clear that politicians, bureaucrats and macro-powers have been highjacked by globalist policies and powers, with the intention of destroying democracy, rights and freedoms of ordinary people, and replacing these with a tightly restricted system of surveillance, control, dominance and deception of ordinary people.
One of the ways of not complying with this and protecting one’s rights is to secede in some ways from the macro-powers, and hence many micro-nations and other groupings focused on freedom, sovereignty and unalienable rights have sprung up, particularly since 2020.
Q: Are micro-nations and indigenous groups fully protected by international law?
A: In theory, yes, but in practice, it may be challenging to argue this and for justice to be enacted and enforced. The most cited protection mechanism is the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) of 2007. However not all nation-state members signed it, with Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States originally voting against it, but later reversing their decision.
The United Nations (UN) themselves admit that despite the UNDRIP, some governments are still reluctant to accord rights to indigenous groups in their countries, with resources in indigenous territories being contested and indigenous peoples being identified as some of the most disadvantaged on the planet.
Q: If international law is contravened, is there some international body who could investigate and serve justice for the micro-nation or indigenous group?
A: When a certain group of indigenous peoples claims there has been a violation of specific rights, cases are sometimes referred to human rights courts, commissions or treaties for investigation, such as the Council of Europe’s European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), based in Strasbourg, France, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, or the African Commission of Human and People’s Rights.
There are also other courses of action, such as the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and Special Procedures/Expert Mechanisms who investigate human rights abuses pertaining to indigenous and other marginalised groups, overseen by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
However, as Ruozzi argues, there are often difficult technicalities to overcome with these types of cases, such as provision of evidence of wrongdoing, identifying who exactly has been subjected to wrongdoing and who exactly is responsible for the wrongdoing, and whether the representative bringing the matter to the courts legitimately stands for the group claiming to have suffered wrongdoing.
Q: Don’t these human rights procedures only apply to ‘recognized’ groups of indigenous or tribal peoples and not to micro-nations?
A: Possibly, yes, but the definition of ‘indigenous’ needs to be considered. Because of the vast array of different indigenous peoples across the globe, even the United Nations has no exact definition of what it is to be indigenous, although they emphasize a strong link to territories or natural resources, often in specific geographic locations, and distinct language, culture, beliefs and socio-political systems. However, numerous experts and the United Nations themselves acknowledge that this ‘definition’ can be too exclusive, and hence the right to self-identification as indigenous or tribal is upheld.
This is what the United Nations OHCHR says: “There is no singularly authoritative definition of indigenous peoples under international law and policy, and the Indigenous Declaration does not set out any definition. This decision was taken intentionally by the drafters based on the rationale that the identification of an indigenous people is the right of the people itself—the right of self-identification- and a fundamental element of the right to self-determination. Indigenous peoples’ situations and contexts are highly variable; any single definition will not fully capture the full diversity of the indigenous peoples of the world. In fact, its articles 9 and 33 state that indigenous peoples and individuals have the right to belong to an indigenous community or nation, in accordance with the traditions and customs of the community or nation concerned, and that they have the right to determine their own identity.”
Q: If there are quite a few micro-nations who don’t seem to be serious in their intentions, such as those that may have been declared merely as a family or group project, or those declared as a joke or with limited aims, why would anyone want to be associated with, or be a member of a micro-nation?
A: Not all micro-nations are started as merely projects or jokes. There are many micro-nations who are very serious about their rights to sovereignty, freedom and self-determination, including Drunemeton Micro-Nation of Indigenous Peoples, who continue to explore how to evolve in terms of aspects of self-determination, their political and legal status, and how to protect their members from over-reach by macro-powers.
Q: In the event of societal and infrastructure collapse, a ‘Great Reset’, or an apocalyptic/dystopian scenario, would membership of a micro-nation protect you at all?
The short answer is ‘it depends’. In other words, there are numerous factors to take into account, and numerous unknowns. Every situation could be different, needing a different response.
Naturally, it helps if families, communities and micro-nations have planned for the worst in advance and are thus prepared for various scenarios. One important factor is how advanced the formation of the micro-nation is, particularly in terms of independence, self-sufficiency and land ownership. Factors like food production, self-defence and geographic location of members also come into play.
Nevertheless, declaring and developing a micro-nation, and becoming educated about its benefits, is considered to be preferable by those who do it, compared to the alternative, which is for individuals and groups to remain fully compliant with macro-powers, leaving them at their mercy when changes occur which take away their rights.
Q: Are there any other benefits to being part of a micro-nation?
A: Yes! We, the founders and members of Drunemeton Micro-Nation of Indigenous Peoples sincerely believe that there is strength in numbers. It makes sense for like-minded people to get together, learn new skills, and teach and support each other.
We think that community groups like micro-nations are the way forward for humanity, with decisions made at community level, by the people of the community, on issues like our socio-political structure, our monetary systems, our justice and self-defence systems, our trade and other affiliations, our bodily autonomy, our rights to clean food, air and water, and how we look after and educate our children.
Drunemeton Micro-Nation of Indigenous Peoples is aiming to send a convention to MicroCon 2023 EU as a fact-finding mission on the experiences of other micronations and the benefits of micronationalism for individuals and communities. Please consider making a donation to enable this via our crowdfunding initiative here.
References and Further Reading:
Amnesty International (no date). Indigenous Peoples. Accessible from: https://www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/indigenous-peoples/ [accessed 02/04/2023].
Chloros, A.G. (1958). What is Natural Law? The Modern Law Review, Vol 21, No. 6 (November 1958).
Drunemeton Micro-Nation (2022). Indigenous Peoples. Accessible from: https://drunemeton-nation.net/indigenous/ [accessed 02/04/2023].
Drunemeton Micro-Nation (2022). Nation versus Micro-Nation. Accessible from: https://drunemeton-nation.net/nation-micro-nation/ [accessed 02/04/2023].
Drunemeton Micro-Nation (2022). Other Micro-Nations of Interest. Accessible from: https://drunemeton-nation.net/other-micro-nations/ [accessed 02/04/2023].
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) (no date). Case processing – the life of an application. Accessible from: https://www.echr.coe.int/Documents/Case_processing_ENG.pdf [accessed 02/04/2023].
Fellowship of Indigenous Peoples (2022). Fellowship of Indigenous Peoples (FIP). Accessible from: https://fip.earth/ [accessed 02/04/2023].
MicroWiki (updated 2023). List of micronations by macronation. Accessible from: https://micronations.wiki/wiki/List_of_micronations_by_macronation [accessed 02/04/2023].
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) (no date). About indigenous peoples and human rights. Accessible from: https://www.ohchr.org/en/indigenous-peoples/about-indigenous-peoples-and-human-rights [accessed 02/04/2023].
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) (2013). Indigenous Peoples and the United Nations Human Rights System – Fact Sheet 9. Accessible from: https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Publications/fs9Rev.2.pdf [accessed 02/04/2023].
Ruozzi, E (no date). Indigenous rights and international human rights courts: between specificity and circulation of principles. Accessible from: https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/301871464.pdf [accessed 02/04/2023].
United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (no date). Who are indigenous peoples? Factsheet. Accessible from: https://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/5session_factsheet1.pdf [accessed 02/04/2023].