The Property Relation

Ann E. Davis

Chapter Chapter One in The Evolution of the Property Relation, 2015, pp 3-25 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract Property has been a trope in the formulation of ideal social arrangements since the compilation of the Old Testament (Nelson 2010). It has served as a rationale for revolution in Locke’s writings, and a defense of the status quo in Burke. The norms associated with property, responsibility and independence, have been alternately celebrated (Pocock 1975) and reviled, when understood differently as acquisitiveness and accumulation, in the work of Rousseau and Proudhon. The ownership of property has been the justification for representation in government, and for the separation of powers (Nedelsky 1990). The foundation of political and economic arrangements, government and market, has been based on concepts related to property. The objective of this project is to trace these meanings of property historically for a better understanding of their conceptual foundations, institutional manifestations, and normative dimensions. Ultimately, this long-term analysis of property provides a contribution to the methodology of historical institutional economics, including the history of political and economic institutions as well as the associated systems of meaning. By expanding the field of study to include debates, the most astute defenses and critiques become part of the object of study, deepening understanding of institutional specificity and ongoing changes. Such a complete consideration of property as paradigm is necessary to undertake systematic critique and consideration of alternatives.

Keywords: Political Economy; Property Relation; Market System; Judicial Review; Invisible Hand (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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DOI: 10.1057/9781137346568_1

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