The current statist order assumes that states have a right to make rules involving the transfer and/or extraction of natural resources within the territory. Cosmopolitan theories of global justice have questioned whether the state is justified in its control over natural resources, typically by pointing out that having resources is a matter of good luck, and this unfairness should be addressed. This paper argues that self-determination does generate a right over resources, which others should not interfere with. It does not entail, however, that there is no obligation on rich countries to redistribute to poor countries. Indeed, in some rare instances, it might be necessary for a particular political community to use its resources, but the presumption is that the collectively self-determining group (the political community) should have the right to decide that.
The Ethics of Nationalism is about the normative limits of nationalism. It assesses three justificatory arguments for the institutional recognition of national identity and argues that they suggest the appropriate limits of national accommodation. There are two kinds of projects associated with nationalism—nation‐building projects and national self‐determination projects—and these are often in tension with one another, at least in practice. The book discusses guidelines for determining when one is more appropriate than the other and the extent to which states can legitimately engage in nation‐building. The discussion of national self‐determination draws not only on the normative arguments for institutional recognition of national identity but also on claims to particular pieces of territory.
This chapter examines one of the most serious problems with the principle of self‐determination, viz., that this concept does not tell us who the peoples are that are entitled to self‐determination or the jurisdictional unit that they are entitled. It examines indigenous, historical, superior culture, and occupancy arguments for rights to a particular territory and suggests normative principles for thinking about jurisdictional units.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.