The Yale Law Journal

VOLUME
129
2019-2020
Collection

Challenges to Self-Determination in the Twenty-First Century

What does self-determination mean in the twenty-first century? This Collection explores the connection between the new international economic world order and self-determination, expounds upon the difficulties that climate change poses for peoples who seek self-determination, and proposes a multinational conception of self-determination to replace the traditional understanding of the concept.

Forum

The Tragedy and Promise of Self-Determination

Brian Slattery

The principle of self-determination, like Janus, has two faces: negative and positive. Often understood as enabling the fracture of states into national components, the principle is better seen as facilitating the creation of multinational frameworks that foster toleration and human rights. 

Forum

Climate Change and Challenges to Self- Determination: Case Studies from French Polynesia and the Republic of Kiribati

Tekau Frere, Clement Yow Mulalap & Tearinaki Tanielu

This Essay examines effects of climate change and related phenomena on self-determination through two case studies. The case of French Polynesia highlights effects on people’s right to freely dispose of their natural resources. The case of the Republic of Kiribati demonstrates how a defeatist narrat…

Forum

The Multiple Selves of Economic Self-Determination

Odette Lienau

This Essay contends that dyadic understandings of economic self-determination, formed in light of earlier anticolonial struggles, are no longer sufficient. It argues instead for a plural and flexible conception, centered on a broader vision of the economic “self,” that more accurately reflects sourc…