The Case of the Catalans by Clara Ponsati sampler

of the principle of self-determination in international law.
We first illustrate that it has been explicitly formalised for
territories under colonial administration. Secondly, we
highlight that even in other contexts in which it is not
explicitly formalised, the principle of self-determination
has been deemed permissible provided that those that
exercise it comply with two key conditions. These are the
principle uti possidetis (i.e. that newly-formed sovereign
states should retain the internal borders that their preceding
dependent area had before their independence) and
the absence of illicit violence. Moving beyond the legality
of the right of self-determination, the chapter proceeds
to summarise the main normative justifications that the
current jurisprudence and philosophical debates require
to legitimise the use of the principle of self-determination,
connecting them to the Catalan crisis. The chapter
concludes by discussing why the Catalan case may be
treated as an instance of ‘internal enlargement’ within the
European Union.
The publication of this book was intended for early 2020
but the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic has delayed
it for several months. This means that our review does not
include the latest developments. Nevertheless, the past
few months have not brought any significant development
towards the resolution of the Catalan conflict: if anything,
the new Spanish government’s management of the COVID
pandemic and its failure to carry out any steps towards
a negotiated solution have only deepened the conflict.
Therefore, the question the book sets to answer –‘Why are
so many Catalans no longer happy to be a part of Spain?’-
and the answers we try to provide remains just as relevant
for understanding the current Catalan crisis.
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