The many questions that surround movements for secession and self-determination are both practically urgent and theoretically perplexing. The United States settled its secession crisis in the 1860s. But the trauma and unfinished business of those events are still with us. Around the world secession and self-determination are the key issues that cause strife and instability.
This volume provides an unusually comprehensive consideration of the many challenges of law and political philosophy that accompany them, and offers theoretical insights that provide guidance for policy. Among the questions considered are: should the international community recognize a right to secede and, if so, what conditions must be satisfied before the right can be asserted? Should secession and its conditions be recognized within domestic constitutions? Secession is the most extreme form of political separation and there are modes of self-determination short of it, including indigenous peoples' self-government and minority language rights. To what degree can these intrastate autonomy arrangements help ameliorate the injustices faced by indigenous groups?
Table of Contents:
CONTENTSPreface ContributorsIntroduction Allen BuchananPART I: THE RIGHT TO SECEDE1. International Responses to Separatist Claims: Are Democratic Principles Relevant?Diane F. Orentlicher2. A Right to Secede? Donald L. Horowitz3. Democratic Principles and Separatist Claims: A Response and Further InquiryDiane F. OrentlicherPART II: INTRASTATE AUTONOMY4. An Historical Argument for Indigenous Self-Determination Margaret Moore5. Indigenous Self-Government Jacob T. Levy6. Exploring the Boundaries of Language Rights: Insiders, Newcomers, and Natives Ruth Rubio-Marin7. Can the Immigrant/National Minority Dichotomy Be Defended? Comment on Ruth Rubio-Marin Alan PattenPART III: CONSTITUTIONALISM AND SECESSION8. Domesticating Secession Wayne Norman9. The Quebec Secession Issue: Democracy, Minority Rights, and the Rule of Law Allen Buchanan10. Secession, Constitutionalism, and American Experience Mark E. BrandonIndex
About the Author :
Stephen Macedo is Laurance S. Rockefeller Professor of Politics and the Director of the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University.
Allen Buchanan is Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy at Duke University.
Review :
"Anyone with an interest in social history will find this book fascinating. . . . A valuable resource and an interesting read."
-- "Drugs and Alcohol Review" -,
"It is a powerful, clearly written, and well-researched reference on the history of drugs in the U.S...Readers will learn much about the temperance movements and the introduction of cocaine into the American market, including coca Cola products."
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--"Journal of the History of Medicine"-,
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--"Jama: Journal of the American Medical Association"-,
