Contextualizing Secession Normative Studies in Comparative Perspective

by Coppieters, Bruno; Sakwa, Richard

• ISBN13: 9780199258710
• ISBN10: 0199258716
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-10-09
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

In a world where the traditional territorial organisation of the state is coming under increasing challenge from pressures from above (globalisation) and from below (struggles for federalisation and secession), the theoretical and practical questions concerning secessionist struggles becomeever more acute. It is these questions that this volume addresses. Why do some struggles for autonomy take acute forms, above all violent struggles for secession (for example, Chechnya), while others remain within the framework of constitutional politics (for example, Tatarstan and Quebec)? Underwhat conditions does a distinct political community have the right to secede from another, and how should this process be managed? Our ten case studies seek to answer these questions on the basis of the application of just war theory to the normative and practical issues concerning the secessionstruggles in these regions. The Introduction sets out the theoretical issues, and then each case study provides a rich mix of theoretical and empirical material, and some of the broader issues are then drawn together in the concluding chapter. The book focuses on four key themes that are central tothe ethics of secession. The first examines normative issues, in particular the tension between 'choice' theories and those based on remedial 'just cause' arguments. The second discusses the problem of violence in secessionist struggles and the ensuing relationship between just war theory and theethics of secession. The third problem is the relationship between nationhood and citizenship, and in particular the problem of applying what has now become a conventional distinction between ethnic and civic representations of the political community. Finally, the contentious issue of sovereigntyand the way that it frames debates about self-determination. With each of these themes, the application of general moral principles to particular historical contexts opens up new avenues of research. This book is essential reading for those who wish to understand both the theoretical and practicalissues concerning secession struggles in the world today.

Author Biography

Bruno Coppieters is Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Political Science of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel Richard Sakwa is Professor of Russian and European Politics at the University of Kent at Canterbury

Table of Contents

Notes on Contributors	ix
Introduction	1	(21)
Bruno Coppieters
A Nation Confronting a Secessionist Claim: Italy and the Lega Nord	22	(27)
Michel Huysseune
Discussing Autonomy and Independence for Corsica	49	(22)
Gunter Lauwers
Self-Determination in Cyprus: Future Options within a European Order	71	(26)
Nathalie Tocci
Britain and Ireland: Towards a Post-nationalist Archipelago	97	(15)
Richard Kearney
The Right to Self-Determination and Secession in Yugoslavia: A Hornets' Nest of Inconsistencies	112	(21)
Raymond Detrez
Special Status for Tatarstan: Validity of Claims and Limits on Sovereignty	133	(23)
Alexei Zverev
Chechnya: A Just War Fought Unjustly?	156	(31)
Richard Sakwa
War and Secession: A Moral Analysis of the Georgian--Abkhaz Conflict	187	(26)
Bruno Coppieters
A Case of Ambiguity: Unravelling Dichotomies in Quebec Secessionist Discourse	213	(15)
A Unified China or an Independent Taiwan? A Normative Assessment of the Cross-Strait Conflict	228	(24)
Xiaokun Song
Conclusion: Just War Theory and the Ethics of Secession	252	(28)
Bruno Coppieters
Index	280