Margaret Moore is a Professor in the Political Studies department and cross-appointed in Philosophy at Queen’s University. Moore pioneered the field of rights to territory, with important implications for the study of law, political science, and territorial disputes, and is universally recognized as one of its top authorities world-wide.
Moore’s work on territory has been hailed a major achievement, and has influenced work not only in political science and political philosophy, but in critical geography, nationalism studies, international legal scholarship, work on colonialism, Indigenous rights, the Arctic and Antarctic, how we think about resources, and in various conflict zones.
Prior to the publication of her book, almost all political theory was concerned with the rights and obligations of citizens to the state, and vice versa, but rarely theorized the state’s territorial domain. One of the most distinctive features of Moore’s research is her use of the tools of political philosophy to address important practical and political questions, including who has rights to territory, the scope of these rights, what considerations are relevant to drawing contested borders and how to assess rival land claims. Moore has embarked on new and important areas of research, building and expanding on the foundational work on territory.
Moore is a prolific scholar whose research on nationalism, secession, and territory has impacted debates in political theory, comparative politics, Canadian politics, and human rights and international settlement law.
CBC Ontario Morning conducted live radio interview with Margaret Moore. Copy and paste this link to access: https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/audio/9.7130308
Op-ed from Margaret Moore published in the Globe & Mail on May 13, 2026: The world order has changed. Now comes the hard part. You can access the article (with a subscription) here: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-the-world-order-has-changed-now-comes-the-hard-part/
