Self-determination is the process by which colonized and hence oppressed peoples become independent.
We have a great deal to learn from postcolonial theory which explains this process in some detail, and from which much of the UN approach to self-determination and decolonization is based.
Postcolonial theory is drawn from the common experiences of many peoples and nations that have become independent from imperial rule, mostly since the end of WWII and the founding of the United Nations. It is therefore very much an applied body of literature. In this it is important for an oppressed people to understand the different ‘phases of decolonization’ which colonized peoples’ have to go through in order to secure independence and liberation from oppression, which is never an easy or straightforward process.