University of Toronto Law School Faculty Blog

Discussion of Prof. Ayelet Shachar's new book

As noted in an earlier post, Prof. Ayelet Shachar recently published her latest book, The Birthright Lottery. It has received a considerable amount of attention.

A story on the front page of the "Insight" section of the Saturday Toronto Star ("Born lucky? Then pay for it," May 2, 2009) discussed Prof. Shachar's book and proposals in detail, and concluded that "Shachar has raised the bar on the discussion of equality." Read the full article on the Toronto Star website.

It was also the subject of a feature review by Andrew Coyne in the July/August 2009 issue of the Literary Review of Canada (LRC).

Prof. Shachar's work has also been profiled in the Spring 2009 issue of Edge, the magazine about research at the University of Toronto. Read the Edge profile (PDF).

Prof. Shachar and The Birthright Lottery are also profiled in the Summer 2009 issue of the Faculty of Law magazine Nexus. Read the Nexus profile (PDF).

Prof. Ayelet Shachar's new book, The Birthright Lottery

Prof. Ayelet Shachar's new book, The Birthright Lottery, has been published by Harvard University Press.

From the publisher:

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 She deploys this fresh perspective to establish that nations need to expand their membership boundaries beyond outdated notions of blood-and-soil in sculpting the body politic.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.

• See the publisher's web page
• Buy the book on Amazon.com
• Read an exerpt from the book (PDF)