Some optional background readings [UPDATED]

I have uploaded a couple of chapters from my book, Negotiating Nationalism, to Blackboard. These chapters (or sections of chapters, as indicated in the Blackboard description) give a little more explanation of what philosophers, including Miller, think nations are, and how concepts of nationhood or national identity may or may not be relevant to political philosophy. (Note, however, this book does not directly address questions of global justice.)

I have also now uploaded a copy of a terrific paper by Allen: “What's So Special About Nations?,” in J. Couture, K. Nielsen, and M. Seymour (eds.), Rethinking Nationalism, Calgary, University of Calgary Press, 1998. This paper questions the usefulness of the concept of "nation" for articulating and justifying high-level political principles.

These materials are not "required reading", but may be useful if you are pursuing some of these themes about national responsibility in the context of global justice.