1932
0
  1. Home
  2. A-Z Publications
  3. Annual Review of Political Science
  4. Volume 27, 2024
  5. Article

Annual Review of Political Science

Volume 27, 2024

Territory and Self-Determination

Abstract

This article focuses on discussions of territorial rights and self-determination in the last 15–20 years. Theories of territorial jurisdiction typically combine two elements. First, they offer an account of foundational title: What gives a particular set of people a claim to be located in an area, including the right to form political institutions to govern that space? Second, they offer an account of legitimate jurisdiction: What is the moral basis of a state's right to govern the area and its population? This article begins by reconstructing prominent accounts of foundational title and legitimate jurisdiction. After canvassing these views, I highlight three areas where further work is needed, particularly as the territorial states system begins to be challenged by climate change: the appropriate balance of sovereignty and international authority in a world of global interdependence, how to rectify imperial and colonial legacies in the states system, and the just distribution of territory.

Keyword(s): climate change, colonialism, self-determination, sovereignty, territory
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-polisci-041322-045000
2024-07-29
2025-04-21
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/polisci/27/1/annurev-polisci-041322-045000.html?itemId=/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-polisci-041322-045000&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

Literature Cited

  1. Abizadeh A. 2008.. Democratic theory and border coercion: no right to unilaterally control your own borders. . Political Theory 36:(1):37–65
    [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  2. Altman A, Wellman CH. 2009.. A Liberal Theory of International Justice. New York:: Oxford Univ. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Angell K. 2021.. New territorial rights for sinking island states. . Eur. J. Political Theory 20:(1):95–115
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  4. Anghie A. 2007.. Imperialism, Sovereignty and the Making of International Law. Cambridge, UK:: Cambridge Univ. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  5. Armstrong C. 2015.. Against “permanent sovereignty” over natural resources. . Politics Philos. Econom. 14:(2):129–51
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  6. Armstrong C. 2017.. Justice and Natural Resources: An Egalitarian Theory. Oxford, UK:: Oxford Univ. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Armstrong C. 2022.. A Blue New Deal: Why We Need a New Politics for the Ocean. New Haven, CT:: Yale Univ. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Barry B. 1982.. Humanity and justice in global perspective. . NOMOS 24::219–52
     [Google Scholar]
  9. Beitz CR. 1999.. Political Theory and International Relations. Princeton, NJ:: Princeton Univ. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Beitz CR. 2012.. Global political justice and the “democratic deficit. .” In Reasons and Recognition: Essays on the Philosophy of TM Scanlon, ed. RJ Wallace, R Kumar, S Freeman , pp. 231–55. Oxford, UK:: Oxford Univ. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  11. Blomfield M. 2019.. Global Justice, Natural Resources, and Climate Change. New York:: Oxford Univ. Press
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Blomfield M. 2021.. Land as a global commons?. J. Appl. Philos. 40:(4):577–92
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  13. Brock G. 2020.. Justice for People on the Move: Migration in Challenging Times. Cambridge, UK:: Cambridge Univ. Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108774581
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Buchanan A. 2003.. The making and unmaking of boundaries: what liberalism has to say. . In States, Nations and Borders: The Ethics of Making Boundaries, ed. A Buchanan, M Moore , pp. 231–61. Cambridge, UK:: Cambridge Univ. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  15. Buchanan A. 2007.. Justice, Legitimacy, and Self-Determination: Moral Foundations for International Law. New York:: Oxford Univ. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  16. Caney S. 2005.. Justice beyond Borders: A Global Political Theory. Oxford, UK:: Oxford Univ. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  17. Carens JH. 2013.. The Ethics of Immigration. New York:: Oxford Univ. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  18. Coulthard GS. 2014.. Red Skin, White Masks: Rejecting the Colonial Politics of Recognition. Minneapolis:: Univ. Minn. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  19. Donaldson S, Kymlicka W. 2011.. Zoopolis: A Political Theory of Animal Rights. New York:: Oxford Univ. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  20. Draper J. 2022a.. Labor migration and climate change adaptation. . Am. Political Sci. Rev. 116:(3):1012–24
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  21. Draper J. 2022b.. Climate change and displacement: towards a pluralist approach. . Eur. J. Political Theory 23:(1):44–64
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  22. Gans C. 2003.. The Limits of Nationalism. Cambridge, UK:: Cambridge Univ. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  23. Getachew A. 2019.. Worldmaking after Empire: The Rise and Fall of Self-Determination. Princeton, NJ:: Princeton Univ. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  24. Getachew A. 2021.. The state's imperial shadows. . Ethics Int. Aff. 35:(4):503–13
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  25. Goodin RE. 2007.. Enfranchising all affected interests, and its alternatives. . Philos. Public Aff. 35:(1):40–68
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  26. Goodin RE. 2022.. Proximity principle, adieu. . In Studies on the Democratic Boundary Problem, ed. P Bowman , pp. 11–31. Stockholm:: Inst. Futures Stud. Work. Pap. 2022. https://www.iffs.se/media/23393/the-boundary-problem_webb.pdf
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Grovogui SN'Z. 1996.. Sovereigns, Quasi Sovereigns, and Africans: Race and Self-Determination in International Law, Vol. 3. Minneapolis:: Univ. Minn. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  28. Held D. 1995.. Democracy and the Global Order: From the Modern State to Cosmopolitan Governance. Stanford, CA:: Stanford Univ. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  29. Held D. 2004.. Democratic accountability and political effectiveness from a cosmopolitan perspective. . Gov. Oppos. 39:(2):364–91
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  30. Hill A. 2023.. Debate: political authority, functionalism, and the problem of annexation. . J. Political Philos. In press
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Huber J. 2020.. Putting proximity in its place. . Contemp. Political Theory 19::341–58
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  32. Kant I. 1999.. Practical Philosophy. Cambridge, UK:: Cambridge Univ. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  33. Koch Mikalsen K. 2020.. The irrelevance of history: in defense of a pure functionalist theory of territorial jurisdiction. . Ratio Juris 33:(3):291–306
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  34. Kolers A. 2009.. Land, Conflict, and Justice: A Political Theory of Territory. Cambridge, UK:: Cambridge Univ. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  35. Kolers A. 2012a.. Floating provisos and sinking islands. . J. Appl. Philos. 29:(4):333–43
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  36. Kolers A. 2012b.. Justice, territory and natural resources. . Political Stud. 60:(2):269–86
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  37. Kymlicka W. 1996.. Multicultural Citizenship. Oxford, UK:: Oxford Univ. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  38. Laborde C, Ronzoni M. 2016.. What is a free state? Republican internationalism and globalisation. . Political Stud. 64:(2):279–96
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  39. Levy JT. 2008.. Self-determination, non-domination, and federalism. . Hypatia 23:(3):60–78
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  40. Locke J. 1990 (1690).. Second Treatise on Civil Government. Indianapolis, IN:: Hackett
     [Google Scholar]
  41. Lu C. 2006.. World government. . In Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Archive ( spring 2021 ed.), ed. EN Zalta. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2021/entries/world-government/
    [Google Scholar]
  42. Lu C. 2017.. Justice and Reconciliation in World Politics. Cambridge, UK:: Cambridge Univ. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  43. Mancilla A. 2016a.. Rethinking land and natural resources, and rights over them. . Philos. Public Issues 6:(2):125–41
     [Google Scholar]
  44. Mancilla A. 2016b.. The environmental turn in territorial rights. . Crit. Rev. Int. Soc. Political Philos. 19:(2):221–41
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  45. Mancilla A. 2021.. From sovereignty to guardianship in ecoregions. . J. Appl. Philos. 40:(4):608–23
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  46. Margalit A, Raz J. 1990.. National self-determination. . J. Philos. 87:(9):439–61
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  47. Meisels T. 2009.. Territorial Rights. Dordrecht:: Springer
     [Google Scholar]
  48. Miller D. 2007.. National Responsibility and Global Justice. Oxford, UK:: Oxford Univ. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  49. Miller D. 2009.. Democracy's domain. . Philos. Public Aff. 37:(3):201–28
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  50. Miller D. 2012.. Territorial rights: concept and justification. . Political Stud. 60:(2):252–68
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  51. Miller D. 2016a.. Neo-Kantian theories of self-determination: a critique. . Rev. Int. Stud. 42:(5):858–75
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  52. Miller D. 2016b.. Strangers in Our Midst: The Political Philosophy of Immigration. Cambridge, MA:: Harvard Univ. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  53. Moore M. 2015.. A Political Theory of Territory. Oxford, UK:: Oxford Univ. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  54. Moore M. 2019.. Who Should Own Natural Resources? Medford, MA:: Polity
     [Google Scholar]
  55. Murphy L, Nagel T. 2002.. The Myth of Ownership: Taxes and Justice. New York:: Oxford Univ. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  56. Nichols R. 2020.. Theft Is Property! Dispossession and Critical Theory. Durham, NC:: Duke Univ. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  57. Nine C. 2008.. A Lockean theory of territory. . Political Stud. 56:(1):148–65
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  58. Nine C. 2012.. Global Justice and Territory. New York:: Oxford Univ. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  59. Nine C. 2014.. When affected interests demand joint self-determination: learning from rivers. . Int. Theory 6:(1):157–74
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  60. Nine C. 2022.. Sharing Territories: Overlapping Self-Determination and Resource Rights. Oxford, UK:: Oxford Univ. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  61. Oberman K. 2016.. Immigration as a human right. . In Migration in Political Theory: The Ethics of Movement and Membership, ed. S Fine, L Ypi , pp. 32–56. Oxford, UK:: Oxford Univ. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  62. Ochoa Espejo P. 2016.. Taking place seriously: territorial presence and the rights of immigrants. . J. Political Philos. 24:(1):67–87
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  63. Ochoa Espejo P. 2020.. On Borders: Territories, Legitimacy, and the Rights of Place. New York:: Oxford Univ. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  64. Philpott D. 2010.. Revolutions in Sovereignty: How Ideas Shaped Modern International Relations. Princeton, NJ:: Princeton Univ. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  65. Philpott D. 2020.. Sovereignty. . In Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2020/entries/sovereignty/
    [Google Scholar]
  66. Pitts J. 2013.. Intervention and sovereign equality: legacies of Vattel. . In Just and Unjust Military Intervention: European Thinkers from Vitoria to Mill, ed. S Recchia, JM Welsh , pp. 132–53. Cambridge, UK:: Cambridge Univ. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  67. Pogge TW. 1992.. Cosmopolitanism and sovereignty. . Ethics 103:(1):48–75
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  68. Quong J. 2019.. In defense of functionalism. . NOMOS 61::47–64
     [Google Scholar]
  69. Rawls J. 1996.. The Law of Peoples. Cambridge, MA:: Harvard Univ. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  70. Rawls J. 1999.. A Theory of Justice. Cambridge, MA:: Harvard Univ. Press. Rev. ed .
     [Google Scholar]
  71. Risse M. 2012.. On Global Justice. Princeton, NJ:: Princeton Univ. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  72. Simmons AJ. 2016.. Boundaries of Authority. New York:: Oxford Univ. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  73. Steiner H. 2005.. Territorial justice and global redistribution. . In The Political Philosophy of Cosmopolitanism, ed. G Brock, H Brighouse , pp. 28–38. Cambridge, UK:: Cambridge Univ. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  74. Stilz A. 2013.. Occupancy rights and the wrong of removal. . Philos. Public Aff. 41:(4):324–56
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  75. Stilz A. 2019.. Territorial Sovereignty: A Philosophical Exploration. Oxford, UK:: Oxford Univ. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  76. Táíwò OO. 2022.. Reconsidering Reparations. New York:: Oxford Univ. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  77. Taylor A. 2024.. Territorial jurisdiction: a functionalist account. . Oxford Stud. Political Philos. In press
    [Google Scholar]
  78. Tully J. 2008.. Public Philosophy in a New Key Volume II: Imperialism and Civic Freedom. Cambridge, UK:: Cambridge Univ. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  79. Valdez I. 2023.. Empire, popular sovereignty, and the problem of self-and-other-determination. . Perspect. Politics 21:(1):109–25
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  80. von Pufendorf SF. 1934 (1704).. De Jure Naturae et Gentium. Libri Octo, transl. CH Oldfather . Oxford, UK:: Clarendon
     [Google Scholar]
  81. Waldron J. 1992.. Superseding historic injustice. . Ethics 103::4–28
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  82. Waldron J. 2011.. The principle of proximity. Public Law and Legal Theory Res. Pap. Ser., New York Univ., New York, NY:
     [Google Scholar]
  83. Wenar L. 2015.. Blood Oil: Tyrants, Violence, and the Rules That Run the World. Oxford, UK:: Oxford Univ. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  84. Wilson JL. 2022.. Making the all-affected principle safe for democracy. . Philos. Public Aff. 50:(2):169–201
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  85. Young IM. 2007.. Global Challenges: War, Self-Determination and Responsibility for Justice. Cambridge, UK:: Polity
     [Google Scholar]
  86. Young IM. 2010.. Responsibility for Justice. Oxford, UK:: Oxford Univ. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  87. Ypi L. 2014.. A permissive theory of territorial rights. . Eur. J. Philos. 22:(2):288–312
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  88. Ypi L. 2017.. Structural injustice and the irrelevance of attachment. . J. Practical Ethics 5::1–21
     [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-polisci-041322-045000
Loading
  • Article Type: Review Article

Most Cited Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error