Moral reasoning is the most common approach to secession in political philosophy. Just-cause, choice and liberal-cultural theories rely on moral conceptions of political authority. This article examines an alternative view through an exploration of moral theories of secession from a realist perspective. Realism has recently seen a revival as a form of normative political philosophy and focuses on political disagreement and legitimacy rather than rights and moral analysis. I claim that realism would reject utopianism and moralism present in theories of secession. Instead of regarding secession as a right, realism would frame secession as a political option. According to this view, this article explores a realist theory of secession that would be based on the priority of politics and disagreement among other concepts. This would be a middle-ground theory, compatible with liberal values and existing moral theories.
CITATION STYLE
Sanjaume-Calvet, M. (2020). Moralism in theories of secession: a realist perspective. Nations and Nationalism, 26(2), 323–343. https://doi.org/10.1111/nana.12544
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