Between Asymmetry and Secession

Giulia Caravale is full professor of Comparative Public Law, Department of Political Science, “Sapienza” University of Rome. She holds a PhD in State Theory and Comparative Political Institutions (1995). From 2001 to 2007 she served as Researcher in Comparative Public Law and from 2007 to 2021 as Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science, ‘Sapienza’ University of Rome. She is a member of the teaching board of the PhD in ‘Public, Comparative and International Law’ (‘Sapienza’ University of Rome) and she has been the coordinator of the PhD in ‘Public, Comparative and International Law’ since November 2024. She is a member of the scientific and teaching board of the Master course in Parliamentary Institutions "Mario Galizia" for Assembly Consultants, Sapienza University of Rome, and she served as the Director of the Master course, from 2020 to 2023. She has been deputy director of the Department of Political Science, ‘Sapienza’ University of Rome, since 2022.Federico Savastano is Assistant Professor of Constitutional Law at the Department of Political Science of Sapienza University of Rome, where he teaches Constitutional Law and European Constitutional Law. His research primarily focuses on the constitutional dynamics of European integration, on which he has published two scientific monographs, and extends to topics such as systems of government, territorial autonomy, rights, and gender equality. He has participated in several national and international research projects on issues related to autonomy and European integration and leads a Jean Monnet Module on gender equality (European Union for Gender Equality). Author of two monographs and more than thirty scholarly contributions, he is editor-in-chief of federalismi.it - Journal of Italian, Comparative, and European Public Law, with which he has been collaborating since 2011.Laura Frosina is Associate Professor in Comparative Public Law, Department of Political Sciences, “Sapienza”, University of Rome, teaching “Comparative Public Law” and “States, autonomies and separatism”.  She teaches in the Master in Parliamentary Institutions “Mario Galizia”, “Sapienza” University.  She is member of several associations and editoral boards: Italian Association of Comparative Public Law; Centre of Excellence on European Integration and Globalization; - Committee of the Law Review “Nomos. Le attualità nel diritto”; -Committee (Focus America Latina) of the Law Review “Federalismi.it”; - Committee of the Law Review European and Comparative Public Law.  She was member of two National Research Projects (PRIN 2005-2007) and Research Fellow in the PRIN (2010-2011) «National Parliaments and European Union in the multilevel governance». She is Principal Investigator of the project “Cities and Governance Models in XXI Century. Legal, Institutional and Social transformations of the Urban Dimension in a Comparative Perspective” – (National Research Programme 2022-2025).

• Introduction.- Part 1 - Theoretical and systemic perspectives.- Regionalism and asymmetric federalism in Europe, by Anna Mastromarino.- 2. Constitutional Asymmetries in Federal and Regional Systems, by Antonio Pérez Miras.- 3. From autonomy to secession: European separatisms, by Gennaro Ferraiuolo.- 4. Nation trouble: What’s wrong with the most influential theory of secession?, by Jorge Cagiao y Conde.- 5. Liberal Nationalism and Multinational Federalism: The Way Forward, by Alain G. Gaignon.- 6. Secession between identity and populism, by Alessandro Sterpa.- 7. Territorial demands and participation in the light of new technologies and forms of communication, by Federica Fabrizzi.- 8. European Union and Territories: The Europe of Regions Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, by Andrea Patroni Griffi.- Part 2 - Case studies.- 9. The path of devolution between centripetal and centrifugal forces, by Giulia Caravale.- 10. . Federalism and Asymmetry as Viable Alternatives to Secession?  Crisis, Changes and Perspectives of the “Spanish Autonomic State”, by Laura Frosina.- 11. Italian Regionalism and Asymmetry: Challenges and Perspectives in Constitutional Law, by Federico Savastano.- Differently asymmetrical: autonomist instances in Italy, between speciality and differentiation, by Francesco Severa.- 12. Dynamics of the Belgian asymmetric federalism and reform perspectives, by Paola Piciacchia.- 13. A Geopolitical Theory of Separatism, starting from Western Balkans, by Francesco Barbaro.- 14. The European Union and Territorial Challenges: Perspectives on Governance and Integration, by Francesco Battaglia.