Book Launch: Nationalism, Secessionism, and Autonomy

by Prof. André Lecours
Thursday, 18 November 2021 - 11:00 am to 12:15 pm
Contact information
Contact person: 
Anna Bogic
Email: 
abogic@uottawa.ca
Registration
Registration required: 
Yes
Cost to attend: 
Free of charge
Event language: 

Book launch presented by the Centre on Governance, the Jean-Luc Pepin Research Chair, and the Forum of Federations

Nationalism, Secessionism, and Autonomy  by Prof. André Lecours (Oxford University Press)

The strength of secessionism in liberal-democracies varies in time and space. Inspired by historical institutionalism, Nationalism, Secessionism, and Autonomy argues that such variation is explained by the extent to which autonomy evolves in time. If autonomy adjusts to the changing identity, interests, and circumstances of an internal national community, nationalism is much less likely to be strongly secessionist than if autonomy is a final, unchangeable settlement. Developing a controlled comparison of, on the one hand, Catalonia and Scotland, where autonomy has been mostly static during key periods of time, and, on the other hand, Flanders and South Tyrol, where it has been dynamic, and also considering the Basque Country, Québec, and Puerto Rico as additional cases, this book puts forward an elegant theory of secessionism in liberal-democracies: dynamic autonomy staves off secessionism while static autonomy stimulates it.

Author:
Dr. André Lecours - Professor in the School of Political Studies and Research Director of the Federalism and Multi-Level Governance Network, University of Ottawa

Commentators:
The Honourable Stéphane Dion, PhD - Ambassador to Germany, Special Envoy to the EU and Europe. Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of the Environment, and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs.

Dr. Stephanie Kerr - Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science, University of Lethbridge

Chair:
Dr. Luc Turgeon - Associate Professor in the School of Political Studies, University of Ottawa