TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2019//
TI  - Between a principled and a consequentialist logic: theory and practice of secession in Catalonia and Scotland
JO  - Nations and nationalism
A1  - Mulle, Emmanuel Dalle
A1  - Serrano, Ivan
SP  - 630
EP  - 651
VL  - 25
IS  - 2
N2  - This paper inquires into whether the three types of arguments usually formulated in the normative literature on the legitimacy of secession - i.e. communitarian, choice, and remedial arguments - are articulated (or not) by separatist parties in Catalonia and Scotland. It concludes that these actors do use such arguments, but they tend to merge them in different combinations making a pluralist case for independence rather than developing monist reasoning as most political philosophers do. Furthermore, it finds a fourth type of argument which is under-theorised in the relevant literature. This is an instrumental argument whereby independence is depicted not as an end in itself, but as a means to achieve better welfare and governance for the national population. It further proposes a fourfold theoretical scheme that links communitarian and choice arguments to a principled logic based on the belief in the existence of an absolute right to self-determination and remedial and instrumental arguments to a consequentialist logic that legitimates secession on the condition that it serves the achievement of specific ends.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1354-5078
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/nana.12412
ID  - ref1
ER  -