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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
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 would happen if a people, let’s say “the Bavarians”, wished to exercise this right, declare independence of the rest of the Federal Republic of Germany and found the “Free State of Bavaria”? Would this be in accordance with international law? Or would the Chancellor be permitted (or even be obligated) to deploy armed forces to bring “the Bavarians” to their senses? Could “the Bavarians” claim moral legitimacy for pursuing their independence?
The right to self-determination has been - though not by "the Bavarians" - invoked by a number of peoples, most recently by the people of Catalonia and Scotland, but also, among many others, by the people of Northern Ireland (which may become an issue again in view of BREXIT), the Basque country or Quebec. And frequently, these attempts at independence took the shape of violent struggles.
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) for a state to annex 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, Alan (1991). Secession. The Morality of Political Divorce … . Boulder et al.: West View Press.
Malanczuk, Peter (1997). Akehurst’s Modern Introduction to International Law. 7th edition. New York: Routledge, Chapter 19.
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