Cosmopolitanism, Self-Determination and Territory - Justice With Borders

"Rights over territory are to most cosmopolitans nowadays what private property was to nineteenth-century socialists: a legally sanctioned institutionalization of theft. In the cosmopolitan imagination, territories are reminiscent of a long history of unlawful acts while the walls and armed checkpoints that are so often used to secure borders dividing people and populations rather than bringing them together. This study moves beyond this picture of territory as a mere object of domination and exploitation to offer a new perspective on the traditional cosmopolitan understanding of territory. It explores the process by which people constitute themselves as territorially defined political communities and argues that the ideal of collective self-determination incorporates a legally and politically inclusive notion of territories as non-ascriptive markers of belonging. By examining the implications of this argument, the text addresses controversial issues of contemporary political philosophy: citizenship, immigration, natural resources and, more generally, global distributive justice"--

List of contents

Introduction 1. Genealogies of the Territorial State 2. Territorial Rights and Rights over Territory 3. Territorial Inclusion and its Boundaries 4. Territorial Exclusion and its Boundaries 5. Territory and Natural Resources  

About the author

Oliviero Angeli is a Lecturer at the University of Dresden and teaches political theory, with special emphasis on constitutionalism and contemporary theories of (global) justice. He has published widely in these fields as well as on migration and Kantian philosophy. He has held visiting posts and fellowships at various universities, including the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa, Oxford University, the European University Institute in Florence and the Catholic University of Louvain.

Additional text

'This rigorously argued innovative book discusses the moral significance of territory. Using sharp analytic tools Dr. Angeli exposes mercilessly the fallacies in the traditional treatment of issues including cosmopolitanism and self-determination. Under his view moral cosmopolitanism does not preclude territorial rights. This book challenges the most entrenched beliefs of contemporary political theorists and provides an original and a compelling alternative which will greatly influence contemporary discourse concerning the international order.'

Alon Harel, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel

'Territory is back in political theory and Angeli's concise book shows why liberals ought to take it seriously. Angeli reconciles moral cosmopolitanism with rights of states to self-determination and shows how control over immigration and resources must be limited but can also be justified. He writes with exceptional clarity and makes his argument accessible to a wide audience.'

Rainer Bauböck, European University Institute, Florence, Italy

'Why should we think of states as entitled to wield authority over a specific territory? In his clear-headed and historically erudite study, Oliviero Angeli identifies the challenges that arise for theories of political territoriality if we take seriously the universalistic idea of individuals as bearers of cosmopolitan rights. His substantive account shows why we should reject "liberal nationalist"views that rely on special ethical relations to territory, and instead embrace the value of democratic self-determination.'

Peter Niesen, University of Hamburg, Germany

'Although the issue of what justifies states' territorial rights has recently attracted a great deal of attention in normative political theory, there are still very few book-length treatments of the topic. Oliviero Angeli's deeply engaging and erudite monograph fills a major gap in the literature by illuminating the historical sources of recent controversies and by providing an elegant defence of democratic self-determination constrained by cosmopolitan norms. His analysis of the right to exclude and the principle of permanent sovereignty over natural resources draws on philosophical, legal and sociological literature and is grounded on a Kantian-inspired functionalist theory of territory from which both general readers and specialists will have much to learn.'

Lea Ypi, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK

Report

'This rigorously argued innovative book discusses the moral significance of territory. Using sharp analytic tools Dr. Angeli exposes mercilessly the fallacies in the traditional treatment of issues including cosmopolitanism and self-determination. Under his view moral cosmopolitanism does not preclude territorial rights. This book challenges the most entrenched beliefs of contemporary political theorists and provides an original and a compelling alternative which will greatly influence contemporary discourse concerning the international order.'
Alon Harel, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
'Territory is back in political theory and Angeli's concise book shows why liberals ought to take it seriously. Angeli reconciles moral cosmopolitanism with rights of states to self-determination and shows how control over immigration and resources must be limited but can also be justified. He writes with exceptional clarity and makes his argument accessible to a wide audience.'
Rainer Bauböck, European University Institute, Florence, Italy
'Why should we think of states as entitled to wield authority over a specific territory? In his clear-headed and historically erudite study, Oliviero Angeli identifies the challenges that arise for theories of political territoriality if we take seriously the universalistic idea of individuals as bearers of cosmopolitan rights. His substantive account shows why we should reject "liberal nationalist"views that rely on special ethical relations to territory, and instead embrace the value of democratic self-determination.'
Peter Niesen, University of Hamburg, Germany
'Although the issue of what justifies states' territorial rights has recently attracted a great deal of attention in normative political theory, there are still very few book-length treatments of the topic. Oliviero Angeli's deeply engaging and erudite monograph fills a major gap in the literature by illuminating the historical sources of recent controversies and by providing an elegant defence of democratic self-determination constrained by cosmopolitan norms. His analysis of the right to exclude and the principle of permanent sovereignty over natural resources draws on philosophical, legal and sociological literature and is grounded on a Kantian-inspired functionalist theory of territory from which both general readers and specialists will have much to learn.'
Lea Ypi, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK

Product details

• Authors: O. Angeli, Oliviero Angeli
• Publisher: Palgrave UK
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 30.01.2015
• EAN: 9781137004949
• ISBN: 978-1-137-00494-9
• Dimensions: 147 mm x 223 mm x 15 mm
• Series: Comparative Territorial Politics; Comparative Territorial Politi; Comparative Territorial Politics; Comparative Territorial Politi
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History; Non-fiction book