Anna Stilz
Biographic Data
| ID | 1324418 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Anna Stilz |
| GIVEN NAMES | Anna |
| FAMILY NAME | Stilz |
| SIGNATURE | STILZ A |
| AFFILIATIONS | Princeton University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-5592-5065 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 39 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 183 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 39 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2003 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
A presentist case for rectifying past territorial wrongs
Historical wrongs in the acquisition of territory often matter and should be rectified. This article investigates what grounds the land restitution rights of Indigenous peoples, and how exactly their rights are connected to the injustices of the past. I examine three competing explanations: (1) a historical entitlement view, (2) a group attachment view, and (3) a social subordination view. A central disagreement between these views concerns how t…
Can Temporary Migration Programs Be Reformed
The author declares no conflicts of interest
The division of the earth and the right to roam
This short essay elaborates two points of disagreement with Jakob Huber’s recent book and one point of commonality and admiration. First, against Huber, I argue that embracing a relational interpretation of original common possession need not preclude holding that it also grounds distributive entitlements. Second, I argue that for both textual and normative reasons, we should favour an interpretation of the right to visit that is narrower than Hu…
Climate Displacement and Territorial Justice
This article develops an account of territorial justice to understand what is owed to people at risk of climate displacement. I argue that the aim of territorial justice is to secure a globally recognized status, the status of being an equal common possessor of the earth. As a common possessor, every inhabitant of the globe has a claim to a "place" in the world where they can access minimally just material conditions and political institutions, s…
Empowering Affected Interests: Democratic Inclusion in a Globalized World
Many demands for democratic inclusion rest on a simple yet powerful idea. It's a principle of affected interests. The principle states that all those affected by a collective decision should have a say in making that decision. Yet, in today's highly globalized world, the implications of this 'All-Affected Principle' are potentially radical and far-reaching. Empowering Affected Interests brings together a distinguished group of leading democratic …
Territory and Self-Determination
This article focuses on discussions of territorial rights and self-determination in the last 15–20 years. Theories of territorial jurisdiction typically combine two elements. First, they offer an account of foundational title: What gives a particular set of people a claim to be located in an area, including the right to form political institutions to govern that space? Second, they offer an account of legitimate jurisdiction: What is the moral ba…
Are citizens culpable for state action
International law holds that states are holistically responsible for their acts. Yet what does the ascription of responsibility to the state imply about the responsibility of its citizens? This article argues that most citizens in a representative democracy bear culpability in association with their state's wrongful acts. Most democratic citizens can be blamed for empowering representatives to act on their behalf, and then failing to adequately o…
Are citizens responsible for global wrongs
This essay critically assesses Christine Hobden’s argument in Citizenship in a Globalised World that democratic citizenship is an important vehicle for the attainment of global justice. The first section examines Hobden’s claim that cosmopolitan consequentialism justifies citizenship in separate states. I argue that for this argument to succeed, it needs to elaborate a connection between relational equality for individuals and the self-determinat…
Kantian democracy and public administration
This paper critically assesses Chiara Cordelli’s Kantian theory of the legitimacy of public administration. I argue, first, that Cordelli’s understanding of Kantian legitimacy offers an insufficiently robust defense of democracy: it leaves too much scope for rule by epistocrats, individuals who are wiser than others in ascertaining the demands of justice. Second, I argue that Cordelli should be open to the eventual abolition of bureaucracy, throu…
Economic Migration: On What Terms
I investigate whether wealthy democratic states should liberalize economic migration and, if so, on what terms. Is it permissible for the state to restrict economic migration as a form of labor market protection? If so, under what conditions? If not, why not? I argue that even granting that states have a right to control their borders and to prioritize the interests of their inhabitants, there is good reason to liberalize permanent low-skilled mi…
Territorial sovereignty: A brief introduction
Reply to my critics
This paper offers an overview of the central argument of my book, Territorial Sovereignty, and replies to four critics
Reply to My Critics
This essay replies to three critics of my book Territorial Sovereignty: A Philosophical Exploration. First, in response to Kit Wellman, I defend the claim that states sometimes have a right against external interference even when their decisions depart from the requirements of social justice. This “right to do wrong” is grounded in respect for a legitimate procedure of collective self-determination, in which the state's members have an important …
Crises in Territorial Sovereignty: Critical Exchange on Anna Stilz’s Territorial Sovereignty: A Philosophical Exploration
Reply to my critics
This paper offers an overview of the central argument of my book, Territorial Sovereignty, and replies to four critics
Territorial Sovereignty
18 November 2019 CH: Thank you for agreeing to do this. The prompt for the interview was to talk about your recently published book, Territorial Sovereignty, but I thought before we got into that you could say something about your earlier work and how that led you to be interested in this particular project that you deal with in the book
Territorial Sovereignty: A Philosophical Exploration
This book offers a qualified defense of a territorial states system. It argues that three core values—occupancy, basic justice, and collective self-determination—are served by an international system made up of self-governing, spatially defined political units. The defense is qualified because the book does not actually justify all of the sovereignty rights states currently claim and that are recognized in international law. Instead, the book pro…
Territorial boundaries and history
This article evaluates the theory of boundary legitimacy put forward in A. J. Simmons’ recent book Boundaries of Authority. I believe Simmons is correct to hold that questions about the legitimacy of political boundaries are distinct from questions about the justice of political institutions. But I argue that Simmons’ own theory makes legitimate boundaries depend far too strongly on historical processes in the past, with implausible implications.…
Property Rights: Natural or Conventional?
One distinctive feature of libertarianism is its position on property rights. Libertarians differ amongst themselves on the extensiveness of natural property rights: While left-libertarians hold that external resources may only be appropriated on an egalitarian basis, right-libertarians typically adopt a weaker construal of the constraints on appropriation, for example, Nozick's view that appropriation must not worsen the situation of others. Whi…
Settlement, expulsion, and return
This article discusses two normative questions raised by cases of colonial settlement. First, is it sometimes wrong to migrate and settle in a previously inhabited land? If so, under what conditions? Second, should settler countries ever take steps to undo wrongful settlement, by enforcing repatriation and return? The article argues that it is wrong to settle in another country in cases where (1) one comes with intent to colonize the population a…
Robert Paul Wolff, In Defense of Anarchism
This chapter examines Robert Paul Wolff’s arguments in In Defense of Anarchism about state authority and individual autonomy, and how plausible they are for philosophical anarchism. According to Wolff, the authority of the modern state cannot be justified because it conflicts with the autonomy of the individual. The presumptive clash between state authority and individual autonomy that Wolff highlights remains central to the philosophical anarchi…
Is There an Unqualified Right to Leave?
While it is commonly believed that individuals have a moral right to leave their country, the shape and scope of this right is not especially clear. Can citizens justifiably be regulated in the act of leaving their state? This chapter argues that individuals have strong interests in travel and relocation that tell in favor of recognizing a right of exit. The author contends that we should uncouple the right to leave from the right to renounce one…
The Value of Self-Determination
Decolonization and Self-Determination
While self-determination is a cardinal principle of international law, its meaning is often obscure. Yet international law clearly recognizes decolonization as a central application of the principle. Most ordinary people also agree that the liberation of colonial peoples was a moral triumph. This essay examines three philosophical theories of self-determination’s value, and asks which one best captures the reasons why decolonization was morally r…
Language, dignity, and territory
This article raises two critical concerns about Philippe Van Parijs’s recent book. First, I argue that Van Parijs lacks a convincing account of why global English poses a threat to parity of esteem for other linguistic communities. I argue that English threatens the dignity of speakers of other languages only because background power inequalities are driving its adoption. Second, I question whether linguistic territoriality is the right way to re…
Occupancy Rights and the Wrong of Removal
Collective Responsibility and the State: Collective Responsibility & the State
Civic Nationalism and Language Policy
Why do states have territorial rights
What gives a particular state the right to exercise jurisdiction and enforcement power over a particular territory? Why does the state of Denmark have rights over the territory of Denmark, and not over the territory of Sweden, and vice versa? This paper first considers a popular argument that purports to ground state territorial rights in citizens’ rights of land ownership. On this view, the state has jurisdiction over territory insofar as its pe…
Is The Free Market Fair
While John Tomasi's Free Market Fairness is ambitious, provocative, and does much to reinvigorate debate about economic justice, his argument for market democracy is not compelling. I discuss two objections. First, I offer doubts about whether “thick” economic freedom is a condition of democratic legitimacy. While Tomasi raises the intriguing possibility that liberal commitments may justify a somewhat more expansive list of economic rights than t…
Territorial boundaries and history
This article evaluates the theory of boundary legitimacy put forward in A. J. Simmons’ recent book Boundaries of Authority. I believe Simmons is correct to hold that questions about the legitimacy of political boundaries are distinct from questions about the justice of political institutions. But I argue that Simmons’ own theory makes legitimate boundaries depend far too strongly on historical processes in the past, with implausible implications.…
Guestworkers and second-class citizenship
This paper takes up the question of rights restrictions for guestworkers from a liberal-democratic perspective. Is it ever legitimate to offer migrants job opportunities in exchange for their agreement to waive rights? If so, are there limits on the rights we can ask guestworkers to give up? I examine three arguments for why rights restrictions on guestworkers should not be allowed: (1) that they require guestworkers to waive an inalienable claim…
Economic Migration: On What Terms
I investigate whether wealthy democratic states should liberalize economic migration and, if so, on what terms. Is it permissible for the state to restrict economic migration as a form of labor market protection? If so, under what conditions? If not, why not? I argue that even granting that states have a right to control their borders and to prioritize the interests of their inhabitants, there is good reason to liberalize permanent low-skilled mi…
Language, dignity, and territory
This article raises two critical concerns about Philippe Van Parijs’s recent book. First, I argue that Van Parijs lacks a convincing account of why global English poses a threat to parity of esteem for other linguistic communities. I argue that English threatens the dignity of speakers of other languages only because background power inequalities are driving its adoption. Second, I question whether linguistic territoriality is the right way to re…
Climate Displacement and Territorial Justice
This article develops an account of territorial justice to understand what is owed to people at risk of climate displacement. I argue that the aim of territorial justice is to secure a globally recognized status, the status of being an equal common possessor of the earth. As a common possessor, every inhabitant of the globe has a claim to a "place" in the world where they can access minimally just material conditions and political institutions, s…
Are citizens culpable for state action
International law holds that states are holistically responsible for their acts. Yet what does the ascription of responsibility to the state imply about the responsibility of its citizens? This article argues that most citizens in a representative democracy bear culpability in association with their state's wrongful acts. Most democratic citizens can be blamed for empowering representatives to act on their behalf, and then failing to adequately o…
Settlement, expulsion, and return
This article discusses two normative questions raised by cases of colonial settlement. First, is it sometimes wrong to migrate and settle in a previously inhabited land? If so, under what conditions? Second, should settler countries ever take steps to undo wrongful settlement, by enforcing repatriation and return? The article argues that it is wrong to settle in another country in cases where (1) one comes with intent to colonize the population a…
Against Democratic Interventionism
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Reply to My Critics
This essay replies to three critics of my book Territorial Sovereignty: A Philosophical Exploration. First, in response to Kit Wellman, I defend the claim that states sometimes have a right against external interference even when their decisions depart from the requirements of social justice. This “right to do wrong” is grounded in respect for a legitimate procedure of collective self-determination, in which the state's members have an important …
Reply to my critics
This paper offers an overview of the central argument of my book, Territorial Sovereignty, and replies to four critics
On Collective Ownership of the Earth
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Hume, modern patriotism, and commercial society
Contemporary liberal thought is increasingly baffled by the question of what kinds of moral obligations we ought to attribute to our common civic ties. Liberal patriotism is often seen as an obsolete inheritance, fundamentally in tension with values of liberty, equality, and impartiality. This paper examines the moral theory of David Hume in order to counter this assertion of incompatibility and uncover the roots of a view of modern patriotism th…
Liberal Loyalty: Freedom, Obligation, and the State
Why do states have territorial rights
What gives a particular state the right to exercise jurisdiction and enforcement power over a particular territory? Why does the state of Denmark have rights over the territory of Denmark, and not over the territory of Sweden, and vice versa? This paper first considers a popular argument that purports to ground state territorial rights in citizens’ rights of land ownership. On this view, the state has jurisdiction over territory insofar as its pe…
Civic Nationalism and Language Policy
Guestworkers and second-class citizenship
This paper takes up the question of rights restrictions for guestworkers from a liberal-democratic perspective. Is it ever legitimate to offer migrants job opportunities in exchange for their agreement to waive rights? If so, are there limits on the rights we can ask guestworkers to give up? I examine three arguments for why rights restrictions on guestworkers should not be allowed: (1) that they require guestworkers to waive an inalienable claim…
Collective Responsibility and the State: Collective Responsibility & the State
Nations, States, and Territory
Nationalists hold that the state derives its territorial rights from the prior claim of a cultural nation to territory. This article develops an alternative account: the legitimate state theory. This view holds that a state has rights to territory if it meets the following four conditions: (a) it effectively implements a system of law regulating property in that territory; (b) its subjects have a legitimate claim to occupy the territory; (c) the …
On the Relation Between Democracy and Rights
"Pauline Kleingeld, "Kant and Cosmopolitanism: The Philosophical Ideal of World Citizenship
Occupancy Rights and the Wrong of Removal
Provisional Right and Non-State Peoples
This chapter rereads Kant’s property theory in light of his anti-imperialist remarks in the discussion of hospitality and cosmopolitan right. These remarks suggest that stateless groups have claims to political independence, and to possession of their land, that can impose binding duties on others in a state of nature. What is the relation of the provisional claims made in the state of nature to the conclusive property rights imposed in a civil c…
On Collective Ownership of the Earth
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Is The Free Market Fair
While John Tomasi's Free Market Fairness is ambitious, provocative, and does much to reinvigorate debate about economic justice, his argument for market democracy is not compelling. I discuss two objections. First, I offer doubts about whether “thick” economic freedom is a condition of democratic legitimacy. While Tomasi raises the intriguing possibility that liberal commitments may justify a somewhat more expansive list of economic rights than t…
Decolonization and Self-Determination
While self-determination is a cardinal principle of international law, its meaning is often obscure. Yet international law clearly recognizes decolonization as a central application of the principle. Most ordinary people also agree that the liberation of colonial peoples was a moral triumph. This essay examines three philosophical theories of self-determination’s value, and asks which one best captures the reasons why decolonization was morally r…
Language, dignity, and territory
This article raises two critical concerns about Philippe Van Parijs’s recent book. First, I argue that Van Parijs lacks a convincing account of why global English poses a threat to parity of esteem for other linguistic communities. I argue that English threatens the dignity of speakers of other languages only because background power inequalities are driving its adoption. Second, I question whether linguistic territoriality is the right way to re…
Against Democratic Interventionism
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Robert Paul Wolff, In Defense of Anarchism
This chapter examines Robert Paul Wolff’s arguments in In Defense of Anarchism about state authority and individual autonomy, and how plausible they are for philosophical anarchism. According to Wolff, the authority of the modern state cannot be justified because it conflicts with the autonomy of the individual. The presumptive clash between state authority and individual autonomy that Wolff highlights remains central to the philosophical anarchi…
Is There an Unqualified Right to Leave?
While it is commonly believed that individuals have a moral right to leave their country, the shape and scope of this right is not especially clear. Can citizens justifiably be regulated in the act of leaving their state? This chapter argues that individuals have strong interests in travel and relocation that tell in favor of recognizing a right of exit. The author contends that we should uncouple the right to leave from the right to renounce one…
The Value of Self-Determination
Property Rights: Natural or Conventional?
One distinctive feature of libertarianism is its position on property rights. Libertarians differ amongst themselves on the extensiveness of natural property rights: While left-libertarians hold that external resources may only be appropriated on an egalitarian basis, right-libertarians typically adopt a weaker construal of the constraints on appropriation, for example, Nozick's view that appropriation must not worsen the situation of others. Whi…
Settlement, expulsion, and return
This article discusses two normative questions raised by cases of colonial settlement. First, is it sometimes wrong to migrate and settle in a previously inhabited land? If so, under what conditions? Second, should settler countries ever take steps to undo wrongful settlement, by enforcing repatriation and return? The article argues that it is wrong to settle in another country in cases where (1) one comes with intent to colonize the population a…
Territorial boundaries and history
This article evaluates the theory of boundary legitimacy put forward in A. J. Simmons’ recent book Boundaries of Authority. I believe Simmons is correct to hold that questions about the legitimacy of political boundaries are distinct from questions about the justice of political institutions. But I argue that Simmons’ own theory makes legitimate boundaries depend far too strongly on historical processes in the past, with implausible implications.…
Territorial Sovereignty: A Philosophical Exploration
This book offers a qualified defense of a territorial states system. It argues that three core values—occupancy, basic justice, and collective self-determination—are served by an international system made up of self-governing, spatially defined political units. The defense is qualified because the book does not actually justify all of the sovereignty rights states currently claim and that are recognized in international law. Instead, the book pro…
Reply to my critics
This paper offers an overview of the central argument of my book, Territorial Sovereignty, and replies to four critics
Territorial Sovereignty
18 November 2019 CH: Thank you for agreeing to do this. The prompt for the interview was to talk about your recently published book, Territorial Sovereignty, but I thought before we got into that you could say something about your earlier work and how that led you to be interested in this particular project that you deal with in the book
Political science (35 works) · Law (33 works) · Sociology (28 works) · Politics (26 works) · Law (23 works) · Political Philosophy and Ethics (20 works) · Law and economics (17 works) · Philosophy (16 works) · Epistemology (14 works) · Democracy (10 works)