Régis Dandoy

New book chapter: The separatism debate in Flanders: Actors and Arguments

In 42 years, Belgium has known no less than six state reforms, radically transform- ing the country from a unitary to a federal state. The questions of autonomy, identity and institutional reforms have therefore been on the agenda for a large part of these four decades and been relatively salient in electoral campaigns and during times of political crises. Separatism as such has never been on the negotiation table, nor a main issue in political debate, but it has nevertheless been discussed, especially in the long period of political instability around the negotiation of the sixth state reform between 2007 and 2011. In this chapter, we will identify the most relevant actors involved in the issue of separatism in Flanders and analyse their respective positions, arguments and strategies over the years.

You can download the book chapter here.