For centuries autonomy has been a public policy tool used to provide stability and cohesion to multicultural societies. Examining case studies on non-territorial autonomy arrangements in comparison with territorial autonomy examples, this volume seeks to inform both design and decision making on managing diversity.

Overall, the book provides useful theoretical and practical insights on autonomy by departing from some traditional assumptions based on idealogical and rigid understandings of the relationship between diversity and territory. The editors and the authors of the individual chapters must be commended for their interdisciplinary approach, comparative analysis and broad geographical scope of the case studies. ... It will become an essential reference for scholars and practitioners interested in conceptualization and legal-institutional design of TA and NTA.

Provides a coherent debate on the application of both territorial autonomy and non-territory autonomy Examines and compares the use of territorial autonomy and non-territorial autonomy in Eastern Europe, North and Latin America, and South Asia Aids policy-makers in understanding the complexity of autonomy through a theoretical and practical discussion Offers a broader perspective on autonomy through an historic overview of the practice

Tove H. Malloy is Director of the European Centre for Minority Issues in Flensburg, Germany, and Professor at the Europa-University Flensburg. She holds a PhD in political theory and specializes in the political and legal aspects of national and ethnic minority rights in international Law and international relations, especially in the European context. She is currently a member of the Advisory Committee on the European Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, elected by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in respect of Denmark. She is the author of National Minority Rights in Europe (OUP, 2005) as well as several edited books and numerous articles. Her main research interests include minority citizenship, agonistic democracy, ethno-ecologism, minority indicators, and inter-sectional discrimination. In addition to her academic career, Malloy has served as a diplomat in the Danish Foreign Service. Francesco Palermo is Director of the Institute for Studies on Federalism and Regionalism at EURAC, Bolzano/Bozen, and Professor for Comparative Constitutional Law at the University of Verona. He holds a PhD in comparative constitutional law from the University of Innsbruck. He is currently the President of the Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention on the Protection of National Minorities of the Council of Europe and a Member of the Group of Independent Experts on the European Charter for Local Self-Government. He has been a Senior legal advisor to the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, an Adjunct Professor of EU Law at Vermont Law School, and a Visiting Professor in several European universities.

Provides a coherent debate on the application of both territorial autonomy and non-territory autonomy Examines and compares the use of territorial autonomy and non-territorial autonomy in Eastern Europe, North and Latin America, and South Asia Aids policy-makers in understanding the complexity of autonomy through a theoretical and practical discussion Offers a broader perspective on autonomy through an historic overview of the practice