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Nationalism, Secessionism, and Autonomy André Lecours, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 256
André Lecours’ latest book has all the ingredients to become a classic of comparative politics. There is drama; there is design; and there is deduction. Emotions are provided by two of the biggest questions of our time, nationalism and secessionism. The theoretical and empirical tension between these two forms the dependent variable: Why do some regionalist-nationalist movements suddenly become secessionist? The research design to capture the answer spans four case studies where process-tracing over several decades takes place: Catalonia, Scotland, Flanders and South Tyrol. What explains the secessionist “turn” or “surge” in Catalonia and Scotland, compared to the absence of widespread independentist demand at both the popular and elite level in Flanders and South Tyrol?
The chosen research design is ingenious for two reasons. First, since only differences can explain differences, the key to solving that empirical puzzle cannot lie in European integration, nor in the fiscal and economic crisis of 2008 or other broad trends that have affected all four contexts about equally. Second, judging by the power of history, economic wealth, cultural difference and sheer numerical weight, Flemish and South...