A Political Theory of Territory

by Margaret Moore

Our world is currently divided into territorial states that resist all attempts to change their borders. But what entitles a state, or the people it represents, to assume monopoly control over a particular piece of the Earth's surface? Why are they allowed to prevent others from entering? What if two or more states, or two or more groups of people, claim the same piece of land?

Political philosophy, which has had a great deal to say about the relationship between state and citizen, has largely ignored these questions about territory. This book provides answers. It justifies the idea of territory itself in terms of the moral value of political self-determination; it also justifies, within limits, those elements that we normally associate with territorial rights: rights of jurisdiction, rights over resources, right to control borders and so on. The book offers normative guidance over a number of important issues facing us today, all of which involve territory and territorial rights, but which are currently dealt with by ad hoc reasoning: disputes over resources; disputes over boundaries, oceans, unoccupied islands, and the frozen Arctic; disputes rooted in historical injustices with regard to land; secessionist conflicts; and irredentist conflicts. In a world in which there is continued pressure on borders and control over resources, from prospective migrants and from the desperate poor, and no coherent theory of territory to think through these problems, this book offers an original, systematic, and sophisticated theory of why territory matters, who has rights over territory, and the scope and limits of these rights.

Genres: Philosophy

280 pages, Hardcover

First published February 5, 2015

About the author

Margaret Moore is Professor in the Political Studies department at Queen's University (Canada).

There is more than one author with this name

Reviews

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this too moralistic and focused around the should-be much more than what is to be useful to my purposes. That being said, it still contained many interesting points of thought.

[Joshua Loong · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://joshualoong.wordpress.com/201...

Territorial rights are a hotly contested issue across the world today. Russian-annexed Crimea, the conflict in Iraq regarding Kurdistan, Indigenous and First Nations groups fighting for control over historical lands, oceanic conflict in the South China Sea, Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the West Bank; all of these events have made international headlines in recent years. And it has begged the question: how can we decide who has the right to control any one peace of land?

Margaret Moore’s book explores this particularly thorny and contested issue. Her theory outlines a few key characteristics of rightful ownership of territory: the people share a political identity to express their right to self-determination, they rightfully occupy that land, and they have a continuing relationship with the land and its resources. Now these are very general criteria and one can easily see that there might be holes, but Moore goes into detail about the merits and pitfalls of her theory. She compares it to other theories of territorial rights, and explores the theory in terms of real life historical and present examples of territorial conflict. These case studies of practical application of her theory were parts I particularly enjoyed about this book.

I gave the A Political Theory of Territory a 6/10. I think the topic is very pertinent to modern day geopolitical conflict, both internationally as well as domestically here in Canada. I didn’t actually agree with Moore, but I think she presents interesting arguments and surveyed the issue from a (relatively) neutral stance. I would definitely recommend this book if you’re into geopolitics and international relations. However, the book is very academic and can get a bit dry at times. Unless you’re truly interested in the topic, I would probably warn that you might not be able to enjoy it.

[Adrian Fanaca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, a political theory book on nationalism, which I despise. So not my cup of tea book, but in general it is useful to learn the nationalist's arguments. Basically, Margaret, which seem to be a David Miller follower, thinks that groups of people can have claims over a teritorry, which for me seems at most a forced thinking which should be reconsidered urgently. Why should groups of people have any power over who and when can travel to a territory is wrong in my opinion

[Christine Pompeo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clearly written, well argued and accessible for non-academics. It was good food for thought.