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On Nationality

David Miller

Nationalism is often dismissed today as an irrational political creed with disastrous consequences. Yet most people regard their national identity as a significant aspect of themselves, see ... More

Nationalism is often dismissed today as an irrational political creed with disastrous consequences. Yet most people regard their national identity as a significant aspect of themselves, see themselves as having special obligations to their compatriots, and value their nation's political independence. This book defends these beliefs, and shows that nationality, defined in these terms, serves valuable goals, including social justice, democracy, and the protection of culture. National identities need not be illiberal, and they do not exclude other sources of personal identity, such as ethnicity or religion. An ethics that gives weight to special relationships is more effective in motivating people to pursue justice and other values because it connects peoples’ duties to their identity; but this is consistent with recognizing some universal values, such as human rights. There are strong reasons for making the boundaries of states and nations coincide wherever possible, but in other cases, nations can achieve forms of self‐determination that fall short of full sovereignty. Multicultural arguments in favour of identity politics and special rights for minority groups ignore the benefits that such groups derive from participating in a shared national identity and the kind of democratic politics that such an identity makes possible. Although national identities are often said to be in decline in an increasingly globalized world, they serve such important purposes that our aim should be to rebuild them in a form that makes them more accessible to excluded cultural minorities.Less

Plurinational Democracy: Stateless Nations in a Post-Sovereignty Era

Michael Keating

Nationality claims are often seen as zero‐sum politics involving incompatible conceptions of the polity. Nationalism and self‐determination are seen as equivalent to separatism. Rethinking the ... More

Nationality claims are often seen as zero‐sum politics involving incompatible conceptions of the polity. Nationalism and self‐determination are seen as equivalent to separatism. Rethinking the concepts of nationality, self‐determination, and sovereignty and placing them in a historic context allows us to treat them as more tractable and as a form of politics. This is done through a study of the UK, Spain, Belgium, and Canada. Traditions of shared sovereignty are rediscovered. Analysis of the demands of minority nationalisms shows that these do not always entail separate statehood. Public opinion is more open than often assumed. Asymmetrical constitutional arrangements provide a means of accommodating plural national claims. The emerging European polity is a model for a post‐sovereign order in which legal pluralism and constitutional diversity can accommodate multiple nationality claims.Less

National Responsibility and Global Justice

David Miller

This book presents a non-cosmopolitan theory of global justice. In contrast to theories that seek to extend principles of social justice, such as equality of opportunity or resources, to the world as ... More

This book presents a non-cosmopolitan theory of global justice. In contrast to theories that seek to extend principles of social justice, such as equality of opportunity or resources, to the world as a whole, it argues that in a world made up of self-determining national communities, a different conception is needed. The book presents and defends an account of national responsibility which entails that nations may justifiably claim the benefits that their decisions and policies produce, while also being held liable for harms that they inflict on other peoples. Such collective responsibility extends to responsibility for the national past, so the present generation may owe redress to those who have been harmed by the actions of their predecessors. Global justice, therefore, must be understood not in terms of equality, but in terms of a minimum set of basic rights that belong to human beings everywhere. Where these rights are being violated or threatened, remedial responsibility may fall on outsiders. The book considers how this responsibility should be allocated, and how far citizens of democratic societies must limit their pursuit of domestic objectives in order to discharge their global obligations.Less

A Liberal Theory of International Justice

Andrew Altman and Christopher Heath Wellman

This book advances a novel theory of international justice that combines the orthodox liberal notion that the lives of individuals are what ultimately matter morally with the putatively antiliberal ... More

This book advances a novel theory of international justice that combines the orthodox liberal notion that the lives of individuals are what ultimately matter morally with the putatively antiliberal idea of an irreducibly collective right of self‐governance. The individual and his or her rights are placed at center stage insofar as political states are judged legitimate if they adequately protect the human rights of their constituents and respect the rights of all others. Yet, the book argues that legitimate states have a moral right to self‐determination and that this right is inherently collective, irreducible to the individual rights of the persons who constitute them. Exploring the implications of these ideas, the book addresses issues pertaining to democracy, secession, international criminal law, armed intervention, political assassination, global distributive justice, and immigration. A number of the positions taken in the book run against the grain of current academic opinion: there is no human right to democracy; separatist groups can be morally entitled to secede from legitimate states; the fact that it is a matter of brute luck whether one is born in a wealthy state or a poorer one does not mean that economic inequalities across states must be minimized or even kept within certain limits; most existing states have no right against armed intervention; and it is morally permissible for a legitimate state to exclude all would‐be immigrants.Less

Love, Friendship, and the Self: Intimacy, Identification, and the Social Nature of Persons

Bennett W. Helm

Recent Western thought has consistently emphasized the individualistic strand in our understanding of persons at the expense of the social strand. Thus, it is generally thought that persons are ... More

Recent Western thought has consistently emphasized the individualistic strand in our understanding of persons at the expense of the social strand. Thus, it is generally thought that persons are self-determining and autonomous, where these are understood to be capacities we exercise most fully on our own, apart from others, whose influence on us tends to undermine that autonomy. This book argues that we must reject a strongly individualistic conception of persons if we are to make sense of significant interpersonal relationships and the importance they can have in our lives. It presents a new account of love as intimate identification and of friendship as a kind of plural agency, in each case grounding and analyzing these notions in terms of interpersonal emotions. At the centre of this account is an analysis of how our emotional connectedness with others is essential to our very capacities for autonomy and self-determination: we are rational and autonomous only because of and through our inherently social nature. By focusing on the role that relationships of love and friendship have, both in the initial formation of our selves and in the on-going development and maturation of adult persons, the book significantly alters our understanding of persons and the kind of psychology we persons have as moral and social beings.Less

Negotiating Nationalism: Nation-Building, Federalism, and Secession in the Multinational State

Wayne Norman

This book addresses some of the special challenges that arise when two or more national communities share the same (multinational) state. As a work in normative political philosophy, its principal ... More

This book addresses some of the special challenges that arise when two or more national communities share the same (multinational) state. As a work in normative political philosophy, its principal aim is to evaluate the political and institutional choices of citizens and governments in states with rival nationalist discourses and nation-building projects. The first chapter takes stock of a decade of intense philosophical and sociological debates about the nature of nations and nationalism. The remainder of the book focuses on the three major political and institutional choices in multinational states. First, what can political actors and governments legitimately do to shape citizens’ national identity or identities? This is the core question in the ethics of nation-building. Second, how can minority and majority national communities each be given an adequate degree of self-determination, including equal rights to carry out nation-building projects, within a democratic federal state? Finally, even in a world where most national minorities cannot have their own state, how should the constitutions of multinational federations regulate secessionist politics within the rule of law and the ideals of democracy?Less

The Scope of Autonomy: Kant and the Morality of Freedom

Katerina Deligiorgi

Autonomy is a key concept in contemporary moral philosophy with deep roots in the history of the subject. However, there is still no agreed view about the correct way to formulate an account of ... More

Autonomy is a key concept in contemporary moral philosophy with deep roots in the history of the subject. However, there is still no agreed view about the correct way to formulate an account of autonomy that adequately captures both our capacity for self-determination and our responsiveness to reasons. This book develops a theory of autonomy that is Kantian in orientation but which engages closely with recent arguments about agency, morality, and practical reasoning. There are two aspects in which the theory defended in this book is distinctive. First, whereas autonomy has primarily been understood in terms of our relation to ourselves, the theory defended here shows that it also centrally involves our relation to others. Identifying the intersubjective dimension of autonomy is crucial for the defence of autonomy as a morality of freedom. Second, autonomy must be treated as a composite concept and hence not capturable in simple definitions such as acting on one’s higher order desires or on principles one endorses. One of the virtues of the composite picture is that it shows autonomy at the intersection of concerns with morality, practical rationality, and freedom. Autonomy pertains to all these areas, though it does not exactly coincide with any of them. Showing this, and so tracing the scope of autonomy, is an essential part of the project. The aim is to show that autonomy is theoretically plausible, psychologically realistic, and morally attractive.Less

The Gettysburg Lectures

Gabor S. Boritt (ed.)

This book looks at how Lincoln confronted the central issues of the Civil War era, throwing new light on the revolutionary changes he helped usher in. The book explores the issue of ... More

This book looks at how Lincoln confronted the central issues of the Civil War era, throwing new light on the revolutionary changes he helped usher in. The book explores the issue of self-determination, illuminating Lincoln's views and comparing the South's struggle for independence to others in history (including the post-Soviet situation in Eastern Europe). One chapter offers a provocative comparison of how Lincoln and America's other outstanding war president, FDR, went beyond the limits of the Constitution in defense of the nation and freedom—as they understood them. Another chapter focuses on both the exhilarating moment of emancipation and its disappointing results. A further chapter traces Lincoln's transition from strident opponent of the Mexican War, to resolute war leader (“Destroy the rebel army,” were his terse orders), to speaking out for reconciliation (after Appomattox he exclaimed, “Enemies, never again must we repeat that word”). The next chapter compares the Civil War as a successful attempt at true national unification with the unifications of Italy, Germany, and even Switzerland (which waged a fraternal war not many years earlier). A later chapter provides an incisive look at the premonitions of Civil War that haunted the American republic since independence, including Lincoln's reluctance to accept war as a possibility. Finally, the book establishes once and for all Lincoln's brilliance as a national strategist.Less

Another Cosmopolitanism

Seyla Benhabib

Robert Post (ed.)

In these two lectures, the author argues that since the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, we have entered a phase of global civil society that is governed by cosmopolitan norms of ... More

In these two lectures, the author argues that since the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, we have entered a phase of global civil society that is governed by cosmopolitan norms of universal justice—norms which are difficult for some to accept as legitimate since they are sometimes in conflict with democratic ideals. In her first lecture, the author argues that although this tension can never be fully resolved, it can be mitigated through the renegotiation of the dual commitments to human rights and sovereign self-determination. Her second lecture develops this idea in detail, with special reference to recent developments in Europe (for example, the banning of Muslim head scarves in France). The European Union has seen the replacement of the traditional unitary model of citizenship with a new model that disaggregates the components of traditional citizenship, making it possible to be a citizen of multiple entities at the same time. The volume also contains an introduction by the editor, and contributions by Bonnie Honig (Northwestern University), Will Kymlicka (Queens University), and Jeremy Waldron (Columbia School of Law).Less

Global Justice and Territory

Cara Nine

Historical injustice and global inequality are basic problems embedded in territorial rights. We ask questions such as: How can the descendants of colonists claim territory that isn’t really ... More

Historical injustice and global inequality are basic problems embedded in territorial rights. We ask questions such as: How can the descendants of colonists claim territory that isn’t really ‘theirs’? Are the immense, exclusive oil claims of Canada or Saudi Arabia justified in the face of severe global poverty? Wouldn’t the world be more just if rights over natural resources were shared with the world’s poorest? These concerns are central to territorial rights theory and at the same time they are relatively unexplored. In fact, while there is a sizeable debate focused on particular territorial disputes, there is little sustained attention given to providing a general standard for territorial entitlement. This widespread omission is disastrous. If we don’t understand why territorial rights are justified in a general, principled form, then how do we know they can be justified in any particular solution to a dispute? As part of an effort to remedy this omission, this book advances a general theory of territorial rights. This book puts forward a theory of territorial rights that starts with the idea that territorial rights affect everybody. Territorial rights, it asserts, must be universally justified. it adapts a theoretical framework from natural law theory to ground all territorial claims. In this framework, particular territorial rights are claimable by the collectives that establish legitimate, minimal conditions for justice within a geographical region. A consequence of this theoretical approach to territorial rights is that exclusive resource entitlements are justified, even if they maintain global inequality.Less