Not in Their Name: Are Citizens Culpable for Their States' Actions?

By Holly Lawford-Smith

There are many actions that we attribute, at least colloquially, to states. Given their size and influence, states are able to inflict harm far beyond the reach of a single individual. But there is a great deal of unclarity about exactly who is implicated in that kind of harm, and how we should think about responsibility for it. It is a commonplace assumption that democratic publics both authorize and have control over what their states do; that their states act in their name and on their behalf. In Not In Their Name, Holly Lawford-Smith approaches these questions from the perspective of social ontology, asking whether the state is a collective agent, and whether ordinary citizens are members of that agent. If it is, and they are, there's a clear case for democratic collective culpability. She explores alternative conceptions of the state and of membership in the state; alternative conceptions of collective agency applied to the state; the normative implications of membership in the state; and both culpability (from the inside) and responsibility (from the outside) for what the state does. Ultimately, Lawford-Smith argues for the exculpation of ordinary citizens and the inculpation of those working in public services.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0198833660
• ISBN13: 9780198833666
• Release Date: May 2019
• Publisher: Oxford Univ PR
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.4" x 8.6"