ABSTRACT
In attempting to mobilize populations in support of their secessionist project, secessionists usually argue that a separate state would bring specifi c benefi ts to their target population. For example, they argue a separate state would bring prosperity, remove discrimination and its resulting humiliation, and restore dignity to the previously humiliated or oppressed group. But some reasons that secessionists advance in support of these demands – in particular, in addressing non-secessionist audiences – do not refer to specifi c benefi ts to the secessionist population but rather to general political or ethical principles.
