Secession is never easy, and should never be undertaken lightly; previous secession movements have led to instability, hardship, and sometimes violence. Nonetheless, secession is bound up with the ideals of self-determination and the liberal commitment to rule by the consent of the governed. It is the underlying moral legitimacy of arguments regarding self-determination that often undergird secessionist movements since, as this book argues, secession can be morally justified. The difficulty is determining when and how it is justified. My book offers an account that begins with the metaphysical nature of social relations at the root of self-determination. This account reveals that while the ideal of self-determination grants secession a moral grounding, those same ideals of self-determination require a process that is deliberate and accounts for cross-cutting obligations.

Mitchell Krumm is Associate Professor of Political Science, Public Law, and Political Theory at Marietta College. He earned his Ph.D. in Political Science from Indiana University in 2016 in the fields of Political Theory and American Politics. He also earned a graduate minor in Philosophy. His dissertation was titled “Legitimate Secession: Self-Determination, Liberalism, and the Consent of the Governed." Since earning his Ph.D. he has been an Assistant Professor at Bethel University in St. Paul and at University of South Carolina Aiken. He has been employed at Marietta College since 2023 where he earned tenure and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2024. His first book is titled “Justified Secession: When Is Leaving The Right Thing To Do?” and he is currently working on projects related to the role of Montesquieu in the Federalist/Anti-Federalist debates, Edmund Burke, and Friedrich Schiller. He has taught 20 distinct classes since his first class as instructor of record at IU in 2011. His service includes a wide range of department and institution level committees including chairing Faculty Development at Bethel, chairing General Education at USCA, and serving on Faculty Council and Curriculum Committee at Marietta College. He also has held other major roles including Pre-Law Advisor, Moot Court Coach, and Director of the Honors Program. For more on Dr. Krumm’s current professional activities please visit his LinkIn page: www.linkedin.com/in/mitchell-krumm-8b1b0574

This event is sponsored by the Washington County Library, is FREE and open to the public, and will be livestreamed/recorded on our YouTube Channel @CampusMartiusMuseum