This key volume examines the political, social and legal processes of the practice of secession, carefully illustrated by eight case studies. It systematizes our present knowledge of secession in an accessible way to readers not familiar with the phenomenon and its consequences.

Aleksandar Pavkovic is Lecturer in the Department of Politics & International Relations, at Macquarie University, Australia. Peter Radan is Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Law, at Macquarie University, Australia.

Preface; Introduction; What is Secession? Part I Secession in Practice: Secessions and secessionist movements; Peaceful secessions: Norway, Slovakia and Quebec; Violent secessions: Biafra, Bangladesh, Chechnya; Multiple secessions and state dissolution: the USSR and Yugoslavia. Part II Secession in Theory: Theoretical approaches to secession: an introduction; Explanatory theories; Normative theories; Secession and the law; Why new states?; References; Appendix; Bibliography; Index.