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Instructors: Dr. Annette Schmitt
Event type:
Seminar
Displayed in timetable as:
Sem Secession
Language of instruction:
Englisch
Min. | Max. participants:
- | 30
Requirements / organisational issues:
Unit: Political Theory
Module 4 (Politics in Europe, European Political Philosophy), MA "European Studies"
Contents:
The right to self-determination of peoples is considered a fundamental principle of international law. According to the “Friendly Relations Declaration”, a resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1970, “all peoples have the right freely to determine, without external interference, their political status and to pursue their economic, social and cultural development, and every State has the duty to respect this right in accordance with the provisions of the Charter.”
This sounds “friendly” enough, but what happened if a people, let’s say, “the Bavarians”, wished to exercise this right, declare independence from the rest of the Federal Republic of Germany and found the “Republic of Bavaria”? Would this be in accordance with international law? Would the Chancellor be allowed to send in troops to bring “the Bavarians” to their senses? Could “the Bavarians” claim moral legitimacy for pursuing their independence?
Though not (yet) by “the Bavarians”, the right to self-determination has been invoked by a number of peoples: time and again by the people of Catalonia, off and on by the people of Scotland or, very recently, by (some of) the people of New Caledonia, but also, among many others, by the people of Northern Ireland (which may become an issue again “post BREXIT"), the Basque country or Quebec. And frequently, these attempts at independence took the shape of violent conflicts.
In this seminar, we will examine whether such attempts can be justified, legally and/or morally, and, if yes, under what conditions. Furthermore, we will analyze whether it can be justified (and again: if yes, under what conditions) that a state annexes a territory inhabited by a people, claiming to aid this people in realizing its right to self-determination.
Key concepts and issues: peoples and nations; right to self-determination and right to secession; federalism and regionalism; state sovereignty and right to intervention; international law and international political philosophy.
Recommended reading list:
Buchanan, Allen and Elizabeth Levinson (2021), "Secession", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2021 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), forthcoming URL = <https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2021/entries/secession/>.
Digital teaching:
The course will be held face-to-face, provided Corona allows ... We will talk about hybrid solutions if necessary. Lets hope for the best!
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