Gendering Liberal Secession: Authority, Consent, and Exclusion

This paper interrogates the normative foundations of liberal-democratic authority in theories of Secession through a feminist theoretical-political lens. Drawing on theories by David Miller, Harry Beran, Daniel Philpott, and Christopher Wellman, this paper examines how liberal accounts of political authority conceptualize membership, majority rule, and collective consent, while overlooking the gendered power dynamics embedded within separatist claims. By interrogating the normative foundations of the plebiscitary right to secede, the paper highlights an ethical paradox of liberal political authority: the justification of secession for groups that may fail to protect or respect minority rights upon separation from the parent state. The paper argues for integrating gender as a necessary axis in evaluating secessionist claims, thereby complicating liberal accounts of legitimate authority grounded in autonomy and self-determination.