ABSTRACT
This article has two aims. First to suggest there is no distinctly liberal account of just secession, only liberal accounts of justified secession in unjust societies. Secondly, the primary argument for secession, which is not distinctly liberal, that of preserving cultural identity, goes further than is ordinarily recognised. Arguments for secession based upon the need to protect cultural identity are either illiberal, in the sense that they are really arguments for opting out of liberal principles, or, where they are compatible with liberalism, require isolation rather than political separateness.
