Territory and Territorial Rights in International Political Theory

Abstract

« Territorial rights » are typically attributed to states and generally taken to comprise at least the following three rights: the right of jurisdiction on a given territory, the right to dispose of the natural resources found in this territory, and the right to control the borders of this territory. To that extent, it may seem that the questions they raise overlap with traditional questions of sovereignty, property rights or population control. The use of “territorial rights” discourse is however only of quite recent origin. It is also becoming more and more insisting, suggesting an increasing awareness of its potential to shed new and promising light on some of the classical themes of international political theory. This panel invites papers that explore the distinctive contribution of “territorial” considerations to the understanding of some of the key questions of international political theory such as: How can territorial rights be legitimately acquired? How do territorial rights differ from property rights and sovereignty rights? What does a legitimate exercise of territorial rights consist of? Is the possession of territorial rights restricted to states or does it extend to other kinds of agents such as peoples or individuals? Under what conditions can territorial rights legitimately be lost or restricted? What has a specifically “territorial” approach to tell us about natural resources rights and immigration rights?

Title	Details
Permanent Sovereignty (not) Reconsidered: Against Second Thoughts	View Paper Details
Democratic Self-determination, Territorial Attachment and Control over Natural Resources	View Paper Details
Colonialism and the Taking of Territory	View Paper Details
Unjust Taking of Territory and Restitution: Territorial Rights from a Temporal Perspective	View Paper Details