The right to secession: remedial or primary?

Abstract

The Scottish referendum, and the Kurdish and Catalan endeavours to organise unilateral independence referenda has made secession, once again, a prominent political issue. Understanding what entitles collectives to claim independence, and the conditions required for this claim to be justified are fundamental issues that must be answered for an assessment of legitimate secessionism. This article compares remedial and primary right approaches to a right to secession, looking at their meeting points and discrepancies. Although the literature emphasises their differences, this article explores their convergence points, arguing that certain core oppositions derive from an imprecise distinction between ‘self-determination’ and ‘secession.’