METHODOLOGY OF STUDYING SEPARATISM: MAIN APPROACHES AND MODELS

At the current stage of societal development, pockets of separatism of varying intensity exist in almost all regions and many countries of the world. This phenomenon destabilizes states internally and may also trigger the strengthening of separatist movements in other countries within a given region, ultimately leading to changes on the political map. Separatism emerges not only as a reaction to political or economic inequality, but also as an attempt to defend the right to one’s own history, language, and symbolic space. Contemporary mechanisms of its manifestation encompass both political and informational-cultural instruments, which may operate even without formal representation. This perspective allows separatism to be viewed not as a deviation from the norm, but as an indicator of dissatisfaction with existing models of state organization. The article analyzes the main approaches and methods for studying separatism.