Kashmir's Right to Secede: A Critical Examination of Contemporary Theories of Secession

Description

A separatist conflict has been ongoing in India-administered Kashmir since 1989. Focusing on this region, this book critiques the existing normative theories of secession, and offers a comprehensive examination of the right of sub-groups to secede. The book looks at the different accounts of the moral right to secede, and assesses both the theories themselves as well as the claims of those who want to separate Kashmir from India. Included within this analysis are the three main types of normative theory that ground the right of groups to secede in principles of national self: determination, consensual governance and rectificatory justice. Previous studies have discussed the causes behind the uprising in Kashmir against Indian authority and examined some of the legal and geo-political implications of the conflict for India and the wider region. This book provides a new way of looking at the Kashmir dispute, by asking what these theories tell us about Kashmir, and in turn what the example of Kashmir allows us to learn about these theories. It is of interest to students and scholars of South Asian Politics and International Relations. Kashmir’s Right to Secede A critical examination of contemporary theories of secession Copyright Contents Acknowledgements 1 Introduction Introduction The issue of secession Structure and purpose of this book Secession and a right to secede What is secession? What is a right to secede? Liberal statism The functionalist account Objections to the functionalist account Conclusion 2 Kashmir Introduction Pre-partition Partition Post-partition The current situation Conclusion 3 Nationalist theories Introduction Identifying the nation Objective criteria of nationhood Subjective criteria of nationhood Problems with a hybrid definition The right of nations to independent statehood The nation as prior or subsequent to the right of secession The nation and liberal individualism The consequences of a nationalist theory of secession Kashmiriyat Conclusion 4 Liberal-democratic theories Introduction Rival versions of self-determination Introduction Liberalism and the problem of justifying the state Beran’s theory and the move from individual consent to collective self-determination Issues of territory The descriptive importance of a territorial right The normative importance of territory to secession Different accounts of a territorial right Establishing a territorial right in the case of Kashmir Issues of the right-holder The value of self-determination Wellman’s account of the deontological value of self-determination The inadequacy of case-by-case reasoning Conclusion 5 Just cause theories Introduction The just cause case for Kashmir’s secession Historical injustices as grounds for Kashmir’s secession The circumstances of accession argument The second variant of the circumstances of accession argument Contemporary injustices as grounds for secession Consequences of Kashmir’s secession for others A functionalist argument for Kashmir’s secession Introduction Assessing the consequences of Kashmir’s secession for self-authorship Conclusion 6 Conclusion Bibliography Interviews Index