Barcelona will host a talk on Tuesday, 26 May at 19:00, when US legal scholar Timothy Waters presents his book For a New Right to Secession at the Ateneu Barcelonès auditorium. The book has been published in Catalan by VilaWeb.
Waters argues for a new right to secession based on democratic will. In a videoconference interview, he said: "Everyone agrees that we have a right to self-determination, but for most people it is quite clear that this does not mean a right to secession." He added that the meaning of self-determination has become "very precise and narrow".
He described this as the "Catalan paradox", and said the same problem also applies to Kurdish, Tibetan and Navajo movements. His aim is to replace disputed historical or justice-based arguments with a simpler test for secession.
Waters said his model uses a "very thin, but important" test of desire. He asks whether a group sees itself as a people capable of forming a state, and whether that wish can be shown through elections, which he calls "the model". He also stressed the role of proximity, saying that people who live in Catalonia, including recent arrivals, have a right to take part in the debate.
He argued that this could lead to better negotiations and less violence. Waters said states might offer fairer terms if secession were treated as a real option, and pointed to Scotland and Canada as examples of peaceful processes when governments cooperate. He also said violence already exists in the current system, citing the 2017 events in Catalonia.
Waters said the idea could spread if enough states copied each other’s behaviour. He added that a human right is not essential, and that a right within the Spanish system, or changing norms such as the British model, could be enough. He said he admires the British system for its flexibility.
For more Barcelona context, see our Community coverage and Sport updates. Join our Barcelona English Speakers community on WhatsApp.
Originally published by VilaWeb Feed. Read the original article.
