Micronations: The Lonely Planet Guide to Home-Made Nations

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Micronations: The Lonely Planet Guide to Home-Made Nations
Micro cover.jpg
AuthorJohn Ryan, George Dunford and Simon Sellars
LanguageEnglish
Subject Micronationalism
PublishedSeptember 2006
Publisher Lonely Planet
Publication placeAustralia
Media typePrint
Pages160
ISBN 978-1-74104-730-1

Micronations: The Lonely Planet Guide to Home-Made Nations is an Australian gazetteer about micronations, published in September 2006 by Lonely Planet. It was written by John Ryan, George Dunford and Simon Sellars. Self-described as a humorous guidebook and written in a light-hearted tone, the book's profile of micronations offers information on their flags, leaders, currencies, maps and other facts. It was re-subtitled Guide to Self-Proclaimed Nations in later publications.

Contents

Ryan first became interested in the concept of micronationalism upon his discovery of the Principality of Hutt River. While pitching the idea to the staff at Lonely Planet, Sellars, who founded his own micronation as a child, overheard Ryan and pestered him for several months after the book's concept had been approved by the publisher until Ryan finally agreed to accept him as a co-writer. Dunford was later also invited by Ryan.

Background and publication

Context

Micronations are political entities that claim independence and mimic acts of sovereignty as if they were a sovereign state, but lack any legal recognition. They are classified separately from states with limited recognition or quasi-states as they lack the legal basis in international law for their existence. [1] According to Collins English Dictionary , many exist "only on the internet or within the private property of [their] members" [2] and seek to simulate a state rather than to achieve international recognition; their activities are generally non-threatening, often leading sovereign states to not actively contest the territorial claims they put forth. [3] [4] The word micronation has no basis in international law. [5] Lonely Planet is a travel guide publisher based in Australia. [6]

The earliest-published book about micronationalism was How to Start Your Own Country (1979) by libertarian science-fiction author Erwin S. Strauss, in which Strauss documents various approaches to sovereignty and their chances of success. [7] It has since been dubbed the seminal work on the topic. [8] This was followed by two French-language publications—L'Etat c'est moi: histoire des monarchies privées, principautés de fantaisie et autres républiques pirates in 1997 by French writer and historian Bruno Fuligni and Ils ne siègent pas à l'ONU in 2000 by Swiss academic Fabrice O'Driscoll, who also founded the French Institute of Micropatrology. [9] [10]

Development and publication

The Principality of Hutt River (bust of Prince Leonard pictured) inspired the creation of Micronations: The Lonely Planet Guide to Home-Made Nations Prince Leonard Bust (14389745770).jpg
The Principality of Hutt River (bust of Prince Leonard pictured) inspired the creation of Micronations: The Lonely Planet Guide to Home-Made Nations

Micronations: The Lonely Planet Guide to Home-Made Nations—later re-subtitled Guide to Self-Proclaimed Nations—was published in September 2006 by Lonely Planet as a "fully illustrated, humorous mock-guidebook" to micronations. [7] [10] The book is authored by Australian journalist John Ryan, freelance journalist George Dunford, and writer and blogger Simon Sellars. [P 1] Ryan, the principal author of the book, became interested in the concept of micronationalism upon his discovery of the Principality of Hutt River located in Australia. After further researching the topic and finding out about the Conch Republic in the United States, Ryan became even more inspired by micronations, saying that as he kept researching "[He] just saw that there were these strange little nations popping up all over the place." [11] [12]

According to Sellars in an interview with BLDGBLOG, he overheard Ryan discussing the idea for a book about micronations with one of the Lonely Planet staff while he was working as an editor for the company. Upon hearing it had been approved, Sellars pestered Ryan for several months until Ryan agreed to accept him as a co-writer. Dunford was later also invited by Ryan. Sellars—who founded his own micronation when he was a kid—became interested in the concept because of his fondness of parallel universes in fiction—"anything that distorts or reflects or comments on the 'real' world – or sets up an alternative world". [13]

Content

Micronations: The Lonely Planet Guide to Home-Made Nations has 160 pages, and includes an introduction and a full index. [P 2] It is fully illustrated. [14] The book's profile of micronations offers information on their flags, leaders, currencies, maps and other facts. Sidebars throughout the book provide overviews of such topics as coinage and stamps, as well as a profile of Emperor Norton. Micronations: The Lonely Planet Guide to Home-Made Nations is split into three parts: "Serious Business", [P 3] which includes what the authors equate as serious secessionist attempts, "My Backyard, My Nation", [P 4] which includes local and jocular micronations, and "Grand Dreams", [P 5] which includes largely imaginative micronations.

Below are the micronations featured in the book, ordered by section:

Serious Business

My Backyard, My Nation

Grand Dreams

Critical reception

Peter Needham, writing for The Australian , and Jesse Walker, in The American Conservative , both appreciated the book's light-hearted approach to micronations. Needham, extending his appreciation to the work's approach to politics, called the book "amusing" [16] while Walker compared it to Strauss' How to Start Your Own Country and reflected that Micronations had a greater focus on whimsical "tongue-in-cheek projects", citing Molossia as an example. [12] Jo Sargent, writing in The Geographical Magazine, was more critical, saying that while he thinks Lonely Planet produces excellent guidebooks, Micronations was more limited to eccentric micronational leaders rather than their micronations. [17]

Needham also appreciated the work's scope, quipping that "the prospect of a listing in future editions" would be an added incentive to those wanting to found their own micronations. [16] Conversely, Sargent thought that, although the book was amusing at first and has some interesting entries, the large number of micronations eventually becomes uninteresting. He stated that there is only "so many 'wacky' young men deciding that life is unfair and setting up a nation in their bedroom" that one can read about before getting bored. [17] Walker concluded their review by saying that the book makes for "entertaining reading," and wrote that it might be useful as an actual guide to the profiled micronations if one wished to visit them. [12]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Although not seen as a country, the Sovereign Military Order of Malta is not a micronation as it is recognised as a sovereign entity under international law. [15]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Micronation</span> Self-proclaimed political entity

A micronation is a political entity whose representatives claim that they belong to an independent nation or sovereign state, but which lacks legal recognition by any sovereign state. Micronations are classified separately from de facto states and quasi-states; they are also not considered to be autonomous or self-governing as they lack the legal basis in international law for their existence. The activities of micronations are almost always trivial enough to be ignored rather than disputed by the established nations whose territory they claim—referred to in micronationalism as macronations. Several micronations have issued coins, flags, postage stamps, passports, medals and other state-related items, some as a source of revenue. Motivations for the creation of micronations include theoretical experimentation, political protest, artistic expression, personal entertainment and the conduct of criminal activity. The study of micronationalism is known as micropatriology or micropatrology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Principality of Sealand</span> Unrecognised micronation in the North Sea

The Principality of Sealand is a micronation on HM Fort Roughs, an offshore platform in the North Sea. It is situated on Rough Sands, a sandbar located approximately 11 kilometres (6 nmi) from the coast of Suffolk and 13 kilometres (7 nmi) from the coast of Essex. Roughs Tower is a Maunsell Sea Fort that was built by the British in international waters during World War II. Since 1967, the decommissioned Roughs Tower has been occupied and claimed as a sovereign state by the family and associates of Paddy Roy Bates. Bates seized Roughs Tower from a group of pirate radio broadcasters in 1967 with the intention of setting up his own station there. Bates and his associates have repelled incursions from vessels from rival pirate radio stations and the UK's Royal Navy using firearms and petrol bombs. In 1987, the United Kingdom extended its territorial waters to 12 nautical miles, which places the platform in British territory. As of August 2024, Sealand has only one permanent resident.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Empire of Atlantium</span> Micronation proclaimed in Australia

The Empire of Atlantium is a micronation and secular, pluralist progressive lobby group based in New South Wales, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands</span> 2004–17 putative micronation in Australia

The Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands was a putative micronation established as a symbolic political protest by a group of gay rights activists based in Australia. Declared in June 2004 in response to the introduction of a government bill to the Australian Parliament in May 2004 that codified the heterosexual definition of marriage, the Kingdom was founded on Australia's external overseas territory of the Coral Sea Islands, a group of uninhabited islets east of the Great Barrier Reef. The Kingdom was dissolved on 17 November 2017 following the "Yes" vote in the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey legalising same-sex marriage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Principality of Freedonia</span> Defunct micronation

The Principality of Freedonia was a micronation based on libertarian principles. It was created as a "hypothetical project" by a group of teenagers in the United States in 1992. The project was formalized as a new country project in 1997, which included attempts in 2001 to lease territory in Somaliland. The attempt to lease land was rejected.

How To Start Your Own Country is a British six-part documentary comedy series aired between August and September 2005. The show was presented by British comedian Danny Wallace and followed his quest to start his own country in his flat in Bow, London. The micronation he created was eventually named "Kingdom of Lovely".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Republic of Molossia</span> Micronation in the United States

Molossia, officially the Republic of Molossia, is a micronation claiming sovereignty over 11.3 acres of land near Dayton, Nevada. The micronation has not received recognition from any of the 193 member states of the United Nations. It was founded by Kevin Baugh. He continues to pay property taxes on the land to Storey County, the recognized local government, although he calls it "foreign aid". He has stated, "We all want to think we have our own country, but you know the United States is a lot bigger".

Talossa, also known as the Kingdom of Talossa, is one of the earliest micronations – founded in 1979 by then-14-year-old Robert Ben Madison of Milwaukee and at first confined to his bedroom; he adopted the name after discovering that the word means "inside the house" in Finnish. Among the first such projects still maintained, it has kept up a web presence since 1995. Its internet and media exposure since the late 1990s contributed to the appearance of other subsequent internet micronations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kingdom of Elleore</span> Micronation in Denmark

The Kingdom of Elleore is a micronation located on the island of Elleore in the Roskilde Fjord, north of Roskilde on the Danish island of Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flags of micronations</span>

Micronations are ephemeral, self-proclaimed entities that claim to be independent sovereign states, but which are not acknowledged as such by any recognised sovereign state, or by any supranational organisation. The constant reiteration of the flag as a symbol of a something that exists by the entity that it symbolizes confirms the validity of the flag as an officially sanctioned and/or definitive symbol of an entity; therefore, there has been a close association between vexillology/vexillogic imagination in creating visual symbols that appear to legitimize micronational claims.

The Kingdom of Vikesland was a micronation in Manitoba, Canada. It was founded in 2005 by Christopher Barry Joseph Beyette, a television news cameraman employed by the CHUM network.

MicroCon is a biennial summit or conference of micronationalists held in every other year since April 11, 2015. The event was created by Kevin Baugh of the Republic of Molossia, and every summit since has been hosted by a different micronation. MicroCon is a significant event in the micronational community, serving as a venue for exchanging ideas between micronationalists. The event has also been compared to the micronational equivalent of a session of the United Nations General Assembly. The largest edition, MicroCon 2019 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, had 113 attendees from 43 micronations. MicroCon 2023 was the first edition to consist of two separate events: an American summit in Joliet, Illinois, and a European summit in Ypres, Belgium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Principality of Snake Hill</span> Australian micronation

The Principality of Snake Hill, also known simply as Snake Hill is a self-proclaimed independent sovereign state (micronation), located near Mudgee in New South Wales, Australia. Snake Hill has roughly hundreds of citizens, and claims land the size of Monaco. Snake Hill claimed independence on 2 September 2003, and Princess Paula claimed it was a right to secede, citing "The U.S., as you well know, seceded from England in 1776, It’s a remedial right, a last resort."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antarctic Micronational Union</span> Intermicronational organization

The Antarctic Micronational Union (AMU) is an intermicronational organization that aims to regulate micronational claims in Antarctica. The purpose of the AMU is to protect the claims of its members against other claimants.

<i>Micronations and the Search for Sovereignty</i> 2021 book by Harry Hobbs and George Williams

Micronations and the Search for Sovereignty is a 2021 book by Australian constitutional law specialists Harry Hobbs and George Williams about micronations and their legal status. Written from an academic perspective, it is one of few works on micronational movements and the earliest-published book to focus largely on the legal aspect of micronations. The book concerns the definition of statehood, the place of micronations within international law, people's motivations for declaring them, the micronational community and the ways by which such entities mimic sovereign states. In 2022 Hobbs and Williams published a book for a broader audience, How to Rule Your Own Country: The Weird and Wonderful World of Micronations.

The International Micropatrological Society (IMS) was an American learned society and research institute dedicated to the study of micronations. Founded in 1973 by Frederick W. Lehmann IV of St. Louis, Missouri, the IMS coined micropatrology as the study of micronations and micronationalism. It had documented 128 micronations and similar political entities by 1976.

<i>How to Rule Your Own Country: The Weird and Wonderful World of Micronations</i> 2022 book by Harry Hobbs and George Williams

How to Rule Your Own Country: The Weird and Wonderful World of Micronations is a 2022 book by Australian lawyers and legal academics Harry Hobbs and George Williams about micronationalism—exploring several micronations and their motivations for declaring independence. The book gives an overview on the topic of micronationalism and explores numerous micronations, extant and defunct, as well as their motivations for declaring sovereignty. An overarching theme is the disproportionate number of micronations located within Australia. How to Rule Your Own Country is a follow-up to Hobbs' and Williams' more academic 2021 work Micronations and the Search for Sovereignty.

<i>How to Start Your Own Country</i> (book) 1979 book by Erwin S. Strauss

How to Start Your Own Country is an American non-fiction book written by Erwin S. Strauss about micronationalism, particularly its application to libertarianism and individualism. Strauss, who holds libertarian views, believes in the abolition of the power of the state. In How to Start Your Own Country, Strauss introduces five approaches that micronations may take in an attempt to achieve statehood, and documents various micronations and their mostly unsuccessful attempts at seceding. The first book published about micronations, How to Start Your Own Country was published in 1979, with subsequent editions in 1984 by Loompanics and in 1999 by Paladin Press. The book was well-received by critics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bibliography of works on micronationalism</span>

Although the academic study of micronations—known as micropatriology—is limited, there have nevertheless been a number of published works on the subject. The following is a list documenting these written works. This list does not contain works wherein micronationalism is the secondary theme, such as reference works which contain or make references to micronations and books about individual micronations.

References

Primary sources

References which are cited to the book itself:

Source

Secondary sources

  1. ↑ Hobbs & Williams 2021, pp. 76–78.
  2. ↑ "Micronation". Collins English Dictionary . HarperCollins. n.d. Archived from the original on 6 March 2023. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  3. ↑ Oeuillet, Julien (7 December 2015). "Springtime of micronations spearheaded by Belgian "Grand-Duke" Niels". The Brussels Times . Archived from the original on 13 January 2016. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  4. ↑ Moreau, Terri Ann (2014). Subversive Sovereignty: Parodic Representations of Micropatrias Enclaved by the United Kingdom (PDF) (PhD thesis). University of London. p. 138. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 October 2022. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  5. ↑ Grant, John P.; Barker, J. Craig, eds. (2009). "micronations". Encyclopaedic Dictionary of International Law (3 ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 378. ISBN   978-0-195-38977-7. Archived from the original on 6 March 2023. Retrieved 28 October 2023– via Oxford Reference.
  6. ↑ Fildes, Nic (2 October 2007). "BBC gives Lonely Planet guides a home in first major acquisition". The Independent . Archived from the original on 31 January 2012. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  7. 1 2 McDougall, Russel (15 September 2013). "Micronations of the Caribbean". In Fumagalli, Maria Cristina; Hulme, Peter; Robinson, Owen; Wylie, Lesley (eds.). Surveying the American Tropics: A Literary Geography from New York to Rio. Liverpool University Press. p. 233. doi:10.5949/liverpool/9781846318900.003.0010. ISBN   978-1-84631-8-900.
  8. ↑ de Castro, Vicente Bicudo (11 March 2022). "Harry Hobbs and George Williams' Micronations and the Search for Sovereignty" (PDF). Shima. 16 (1). Shima Publishing: 422. doi:10.21463/shima.159. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 February 2023. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  9. ↑ Foucher-Dufoix, Valérie; Dufoix, Stéphane (February 2012). "La patrie peut-elle être virtuelle ?" [Can the homeland be virtual?]. Pardés (in French). 52. In Press: 17. Archived from the original on 13 August 2023. Retrieved 28 October 2023– via Cairn.info.
  10. 1 2 Vieira, Fátima (2022). "Micronations and Hyperutopias". In Marks, Peter; Wagner-Lawlor, Jennifer A.; Vieira, Fátima (eds.). The Palgrave Handbook of Utopian and Dystopian Literatures. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 282. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-88654-7_22. ISBN   978-3-030-88654-7.
  11. ↑ Chadwick, Alex (1 November 2007). "'Lonely Planet' Explores Micronations". NPR . Archived from the original on 27 September 2022. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  12. 1 2 3 Walker, Jesse (19 November 2007). "Big Ideas Need Small Places". The American Conservative . Archived from the original on 31 May 2023. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  13. ↑ Manaugh, Geoff (23 November 2006). "The Lonely Planet Guide to Micronations: An Interview with Simon Sellars". BLDGBLOG . Archived from the original on 29 June 2020. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  14. ↑ "Micronations / John Ryan ; George Dunford ; Simon Sellars". National Library of Australia. n.d. Archived from the original on 31 May 2023. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  15. ↑ Hobbs & Williams 2021, p. 73.
  16. 1 2 Needham, Peter (16 September 2006). "Born to rule". The Australian . Archived from the original on 1 December 2008. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  17. 1 2 Sargent, Jo (October 2006). "It's a small world after all". The Geographical Magazine. Vol. 78, no. 10. Geographical Magazine Ltd. p. 91. ISSN   0016-741X.

Bibliography

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