noun A theory or doctrine which supports a state of separation between organizations, institutions, or other societal groups (e.g. between church and state) or between different political jurisdictions (e.g. a country and its former colony).
She wrote an essay expounding the tenets of Scottish separatism.
noun The practice of treating members of different societal groups in a politically, legally, or economically different manner.
Apartheid was a government-enforced form of separatism in which people received unequal social benefits based on race.