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Call for Publications Theme: Justice, Legitimacy and Secession Publication: Las Torres de Lucca. International Journal of Philosophy Date: Number 18 (January-June 2021) Deadline: 24.4.2020 __________________________________________________ Politics is about managing conflict, about how we should live together. Many traditions of thought and political thinkers have nonetheless taken this shared space of conflict, this ‘we the people’, as a given. ‘The people’ is just considered as a necessary precondition for politics. What happens when a part of this ‘we’ disagrees with that? When some consider this shared community should not be taken as given and claim for their right to secede and build their own independent political community. Such claims have bearings on the fundamental questions ‘who is the demos? And who are the people entitled to self-government?’ Political philosophers have reflected on this issue widely. Some have defended the morality of groups to secede if they have a democratic majority. Others have argued that secession is justified only when it is a remedy against an evil – for example, when a minority group is persecuted by a state controlled by a majority group. This kind of conflict constitutes a pressing issue in contemporary democratic societies. It thus calls for further philosophical reflection. How should political institutions deal with secession? Are democratic procedures a normatively appealing solution? Pro-independence supporters argue the affirmative on the basis of a right to self-determination. From a philosophical point of view, however, things are not obvious. Which majority are we talking about? A majority state-wide, or only within the minority group claiming for independence? Going further, what does self-determination mean and imply in democratic terms? Does it imply the creation of a nation-state or should internal self-government suffice? Is self-determination territorially conditioned? What would happen with dispersed minorities? Besides, is a democratic procedure enough to justify a decision regardless of its content? What is the place of justice when discussing on secession issues? How should we balance justice claims and democratic procedures when dealing with secession? All these questions seem fundamental philosophically speaking, but secession is also a relevant issue in our contemporary societies. It is part of, but not limited to, the Spanish constitutional crisis derived from the political claims of Catalan pro-independence parties and institutions, perhaps the greatest political turmoil since the beginning of Spanish democracy in 1978 (in addition to the recognition demands of other territories such as the Basque Country). It was also a pressing issue for the Quebec and Scottish referendums on independence in 1995 and 2014 respectively, New Caledonia’s agreement with France regarding its political status, the Kurdish unilateral referendum on independence in Iraq in 2017, or the political status of Taiwan. These are a few examples of how relevant are pro-independence claims nowadays. What can the different theories of democracy and theories of justice have to say about the pressing issue of secession? This dossier invites scholars working on political philosophy to contribute to these and other related questions. Online Submissions: http://www.lastorresdelucca.org/index.php/ojs/about/submissions Deadline: April 24, 2020 Coordination: Sergi Morales-Gálvez The scientific scope of Las Torres de Lucca (International Journal of Political Philosophy) will be to comprehend the characteristics of political philosophy, in line with the interdisciplinary character that has operated in this field during the last several years. We welcome contributions from the areas traditionally linked directly to political philosophy (moral philosophy, philosophy of law, political theory), as well as from those that have been incorporated up to the present day (political economy, philosophy of history, psychology, neurophysiology and, to a lesser extent, other sciences) as long as their scope is focused on the treatment of public affairs and sheds light on contemporary political reflections. In the same way, the reference to classic problems should be brought to bear on contemporary questions. The journal publishes original articles in English and Spanish. Journal website: http://www.lastorresdelucca.org __________________________________________________ InterPhil List Administration: https://interphil.polylog.org InterPhil List Archive: https://www.mail-archive.com/interphil@list.polylog.org/ __________________________________________________
