Biography

Anthony Dean Norton is a Ph.D. Candidate in the UCLA Department of Political Science whose research addresses the intellectual, political, and legal history of the right to self-determination of peoples. His dissertation “Sources of Self-Determination: Beyond Right and Recognition” traces the intellectual evolution of collective self-determination from the nationalist revolutions of the mid-19th century to the present, demonstrating the emergence of new iterations of collective self-determination that expanded to whom and to what the notion applied. The project evaluates contemporary self-determination conflicts considering this history to explain how the accumulation and sedimentation of meanings of self-determination operate within and complicate contestations over competing claims to autonomy. Despite the problems this plurality of meanings presents, the project defends an indeterminate understanding of the right to self-determination so that the right may continue to provide a framework for autonomy claim-making considering future, unforeseen circumstances that challenge collective identity and way of life.

In addition to his candidacy at UCLA Political Science, Anthony holds MA in Philosophy from Brandeis University and BA (Hons) degrees in Philosophy and Government from the University of Texas at Austin.

Research Interests

Self-Determination; Decolonization; Nationalism; Human Rights

Courses & Presentations

48CW – “Decolonization and the Right to Self-Determination of Peoples”
PS119 – “Theories of Human Rights”
PS119 – “Utopias and Dystopias”
PS10 – “Introduction to Political Theory”