A Liberal Theory of Collective Rights (Democracy, Diversity, and Citizen Engagement Series, 2) (Volume 2) - Softcover

Seymour, Michel

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0773551174 ISBN 13: 9780773551176

Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2017

Synopsis

Most states are multination states, and most peoples are stateless peoples. Just as collectives can behave as sovereign states only if they are recognized by the international community, liberal multination states must recognize stateless peoples in order to determine their political status within that state. There is, however, no agreement on the kind of principles that should be considered, especially under classical liberalism, which gives individuals preeminence over groups.

Liberal theories that attempt to accommodate collective rights are often based on a comprehensive version of liberalism that subscribes to moral individualism. Within such a framework, they develop a watered-down concept of collective rights. In A Liberal Theory of Collective Rights Michel Seymour explores the theoretical resources of John Rawls’s political liberalism and shows that this particular approach can accommodate genuine collective rights. By Rawls’s account, Seymour explains, peoples are moral agents and sources of valid moral claims and are therefore entitled to collective rights. These kinds of rights translate, in the constitution of the multination state, to a true political recognition for stateless peoples.

Ultimately, A Liberal Theory of Collective Rights answers three important questions: Who is the subject of collective rights? What is the object of collective rights? And can they be institutionalized in real politics?

About this title

About the Author

Michel Seymour is professor in the Department of Philosophy at l'Université de Montréal .

From the Back Cover

Series Editors: Alain-G. Gagnon and Yasmeen Abu-Laban

Vibrant movements both new and old, inspired by Indigeneity, national self-determination, anti-racism, migrant precarity, and their intersections with other forms of identity, raise profound questions about social justice. Such movements also provoke backlash. These developments beg the interrogation of institutional mechanisms for inclusion as they relate to democracy, citizenship, public policy, and rights across different state forms, including settler colonial and federal states. Centring the heterogeneity of mobilizations and claims-making by citizens, non-citizens, nations, and groups in the twenty-first century, the Democracy, Diversity, and Citizen Engagement Series invites consideration of how people and interests are represented. In light of how nations and people are often divided by state frontiers, the series, with the support of the Interdisciplinary Research Centre on Diversity and Democracy, also showcases work that identifies how interests and representation might be enhanced at local, national, or global levels.

Edition details

• Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press
• Publication date: 2017
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0773551174
• ISBN 13: 9780773551176
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 328