The birthright lottery
Subtitle: citizenship and global inequality
By: Ayelet Shachar.
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Published: 2009
Place of publication: Cambridge, Mass
Language: eng
Number of pages: 273
ISBN-13: 9780674032712
Subjects: Citizenship; Sociological jurisprudence
Description: The vast majority of the global population acquires citizenship purely by accidental circumstances of birth. There is little doubt that securing membership status in a given state bequeaths to some a world filled with opportunity and condemns others to a life with little hope. Gaining privileges by such arbitrary criteria as one’s birthplace is discredited in virtually all fields of public life, yet birthright entitlements still dominate our laws when it comes to allotting membership in a state. 

In The Birthright Lottery, Ayelet Shachar argues that birthright citizenship in an affluent society can be thought of as a form of property inheritance: that is, a valuable entitlement transmitted by law to a restricted group of recipients under conditions that perpetuate the transfer of this prerogative to their heirs. She deploys this fresh perspective to establish that nations need to expand their membership boundaries beyond outdated notions of blood-and-soil in sculpting the body politic. Located at the intersection of law, economics, and political philosophy, The Birthright Lottery further advocates redistributional obligations on those benefiting from the inheritance of membership, with the aim of ameliorating its most glaring opportunity inequalities.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction : the puzzle of birthright citizenship; title: Part One: Birthright Citizenship and Global Inequality; title: Chapter 1: Re-conceptualizing membership : citizenship as inherited property; title: Chapter 2: Abolishing vs. resurrecting borders : moving beyond the binary options; title: Chapter 3: A new basis for global redistribution : the birthright privilege levy; title: Part Two: From Global to Local: Overinclusion, Underinclusion, and Democratic Legitimacy; title: Chapter 4: Blood and soil : birthright citizenship in the domestic arena; title: Chapter 5: Popular defenses of birthright citizenship and their limitations; title: Chapter 6: Curtailing inheritance : toward a jus nexi membership allocation principle