Cultural and Economic Grievances and the Political Salience of Secessionism

ABSTRACT Why does secessionism become politically salient at some times but recede at others? Existing work highlights how cultural and economic grievances can shape secessionism, but it explains less well when these claims elevate the salience of secessionism and why similar grievances matter in some contexts but not others. I develop a typology of regions with secessionist movements based on the cultural distinctiveness of the titular population and the region's relative economic position. Applying this framework to Catalonia, Montenegro, Quebec, and Scotland, I draw on 194 interviews, ethnographic fieldwork, and process tracing to examine how grievances shape the salience of secessionism. I show that economic grievances heighten salience more than cultural grievances in relatively wealthy/culturally similar regions, whereas cultural grievances dominate over economic grievances in relatively poor/culturally distinct regions. In relatively wealthy/culturally distinct regions, both sets of grievances reinforce salience. In relatively poor/culturally similar regions, idiosyncratic factors, rather than cultural or economic grievances, drive the salience of secessionism. By distinguishing regions along cultural and economic dimensions, I offer a pilot comparative framework that can be extended to other regions and to additional types of grievance.