The Limits of Culture in the Politics of Self-Determination
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6256346 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Mary A Murphy (0000-0002-9644-1761, University of Queens, Canada, corresponding author), Michael Murphy (0000-0001-8458-3992, University of Queens, Canada) |
| Year | 2001 |
| Volume | 1 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 367-388 |
| Publication date | 2001-09-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Ethnicities (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1468-7968 • E-ISSN: 1741-2706 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/146879680100100305 |
| OpenAlex | W2108001411 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 31 |
In this article, I take issue with a particular kind of liberal approach to self-determination which I refer to as culturalism. Encompassing both supporters and opponents of the right to self-determination, culturalism assumes that a normative defence of the right to self-determination stands or falls on the question of its instrumental importance to the preservation of a nation's distinctive culture. My argument, in contrast, is that in normative terms self-determination most fundamentally embodies a democratic claim. It is a nation's right to determine its own future as free as possible from external interference or domination by an external power. This is an expression of the political principle that legitimacy flows from the consent of the governed which, in this particular context, means that nations claim the right to choose how and by whom they will be governed, regardless of their cultural distinctiveness. My intention is not to construct a defence of the right to self-determination, but instead to show how culturalists obscure crucial aspects of the claim, thereby reducing our capacity to address the challenge of nationalism in a just and effective manner
Argument (complex analysis · Context (archaeology · Culturalism · Democracy · Epistemology · Law and economics · Legitimacy · Nationalism · Normative · Optimal distinctiveness theory · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Self-determination · Sociology · Law · Philosophy · Political Philosophy and Ethics · Political Systems and Governance · Psychology · Religious Freedom and Discrimination · Social Psychology
Citizens plus
Democratic theory
Liberal Nationalism
In Defense of Self-Determination
National Self-determination
Nations and nationalism in a global era
The Rights of minority cultures
Culture, Citizenship, and Community
National Self-Determination and Secession
The Boundaries of Citizenship
Strange Multiplicity
Beyond the cultural argument for liberal nationalism
What if value and rights lie foundationally in groups?’ The Maori Case
Rethinking Nationalism
The limits of cultural politics
The right to self-determination in international politics
Two Steps Forward, Two Steps Back
Nationalism, ethnic conflict, and democracy
Reimagining Political Community
National Self-Determination
Strange multiplicity
The Rights of Minority Cultures
Constructions of Cultural Identity
Quebec and Canada at the Crossroads
The Autonomy Argument for Liberal Nationalism
Plural Cultures, Contested Territories
Culture and the Courts
Theoretical Foundations of Liberalism
Liberalism and the Right to Culture
| Citations per year | 0.13 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2002 - 2004 (3) |
| Highly cited | No |