Dealing with Diversity. Autonomy and/or Secession?

Abstract

The traditional nation state faces serious problems in the recent decades leading to new developments. Markets merged on the global level increasing competition and concurrence. Regions emancipated on the sub national level stimulating regional identities. Also formerly state tasks were privatised, so that non state actors became influential like for example in telecommunication or infrastructure policies. Diversity showed therefore in various aspects that could hardly be sharply separated, but moreover influenced each other. A particular problem for the nation state consisted in the emancipation of sub national regions leading to a growing diversity. Independent of the characteristics of the political system, diversity affected federal and unitary state alike. How did the nation state (no matter if federal or unitary) and the regions deal with the emerging diversity? Proved diversity to be stoppable or has the challenge of the nation state lead to an end of the nation state? The panel approaches both ways through the possibility of an internal secession along liberal democratic theory. Another aspect of the panel deals with various forms of autonomy in the direction to challenge to nation state. Demands for autonomy seemed to be present in traditional federal states like Germany, but also in highly centralised states like China. The panel presents as an alternative to secession, independence and autonomy to include regional identities like in Andalusia, but also examples of multi level governance in Turkey.

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