Abstract
Recent discussions about global justice have focused on arguments that favor the inclusion of political and social rights within the set of human rights. By doing so, these discussions raise the issue of the existence of specific rights enjoyed exclusively by citizens of a given community. This article deals with the problem of distinguishing between human and citizen rights. Specifically, it proposes a new concept of citizen rights that is based on what I call ‘the stockholder principle’: a principle of solidarity that holds within a specific country. This concept, the paper goes on to argue, is compatible with a broad idea of human rights defined by international law and enforced according to territorial authority. The stockholder principle is further compatible with the psychological concept of citizenship based on a specific collective identity and it leads to fair consequences at the domestic and global levels.
Highlights
The French Revolution has passed down an ambiguous legacy: The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen (Paine [1789] 1951)
The aim of this paper is to develop a concept of citizenship compatible with the promotion of substantial universal rights
The defining feature of joint-stock citizenship is that, while individual human rights are guaranteed through territorial presence, citizen rights are derived from the fact that individuals are tied to a specific community
Summary
The French Revolution has passed down an ambiguous legacy: The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen (Paine [1789] 1951). The defining feature of joint-stock citizenship is that, while individual human rights are guaranteed through territorial presence, citizen rights are derived from the fact that individuals are (partly) tied to a specific community. Such ties are acquired when the community has invested in them. The bottom line consists in giving citizens and companies opportunities to grow and, because of that, the stockholder principle is appropriate for both To this metaphor, I will discuss how sovereignty and political agency may be conceptualized in a globalized world without violating individual human rights.
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