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The Open University

Nationalism, self-determination and secession

The Open University via OpenLearn

Overview

What makes a 'nation' and what makes peoples strive for nationhood? This free course, Nationalism, self-determination and secession, will provide you with an introduction to studying political ideas by looking at how people who see themselves as nations challenge the existing order to assert their right to a state of their own.

Syllabus

  • Introduction
  • Learning outcomes
  • 1 Preface
  • 1 Preface
  • 2 Political belonging: loyalty, community and statehood
  • 2 Political belonging: loyalty, community and statehood
  • 3 Self-determination: individual and collective
  • 3 Self-determination: individual and collective
  • 4 What is a ‘nation’?
  • 4 What is a ‘nation’?
  • 5 Nationalism as an ideology
  • 5 Nationalism as an ideology
  • 5.1 Ideology: a contested concept
  • 5.2 ‘The prioritisation of a particular group – the nation – as a key constituting and identifying framework for human beings and their practices’
  • 5.3 ‘A positive valorisation is assigned to one's own nation, granting it specific claims over the conduct of its members’
  • 5.4 ‘The desire to give politico-institutional expression to the first two core concepts’
  • 5.5 ‘A sense of belonging and membership in which sentiment and emotion play an important role’
  • 6 National self-determination
  • 6 National self-determination
  • 6.1 When is secession justified?
  • 6.2 Who should get to vote on secession?
  • 6.3 What size of majority vote should decide the issue?
  • 6.4 Does one community seceding grant a similar right to others?
  • 6.5 Do our answers depend on who the groups are?
  • 6.6 What about a more restrictive ‘remedial right?’
  • 6.7 What about alternatives to secession?
  • 7 Conclusion
  • 7 Conclusion
  • References
  • Acknowledgements

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