Property Rights Routledge Revivals

Property Rights: Philosophic Foundations, first published in 1977, comprehensively examines the general justifications for systems of private property rights, and discusses with great clarity the major arguments as to the rights and responsibilities of property ownership. In particular, the arguments that hold that there are natural rights derived from first occupancy, labour, utility, liberty and virtue are considered, as are the standard anti-property arguments based on disutility, virtue and inequality, and the belief that justice in distribution must take precedence over private ownership. Lawrence Becker goes on to contend that there are four sound lines of argument for private property that, together with what is sound in the anti-property arguments, must be co-ordinated to form the foundations of a new theory. He therefore expounds a concise but sophisticated theory of property that is relevant to the modern world, and concludes by indicating some of the implications of his theory.

First published in 1964, this is a study of the extreme inequalities in the ownership of property, in economies across the globe. Professor Meade examines in depth the economic, demographic and social factors which lead to such inequalities. He considers a wide range of remedial policies – educational development, reformed death duties and capital taxes, demographic policies, trade union action, the socialization of property, the development of a property-owning democracy, the expansion of the welfare state. The argument is expressed in precise analytical terms, but the main exposition is free of mathematics and technical jargon and is designed for the interested layman as well as the economist.

Recent years have seen a globalization of property rights as the Western conception of property over land has extended across the world. As formerly community-owned land and natural resources are privatized and titling schemes proliferate, Property Rights from Below questions the trend toward treating land as a commodity and explores alternatives to the Western model. As we enter an era of resource scarcity and as competition for land and associated natural resources increases, purchasing power cannot become the sole criterion for land allocation; and the law of supply and demand in increasingly financialized markets cannot become the sole metric through which the value of land is determined. Using a range of examples from around the world, Property Rights from Below demonstrates that alternatives to this model often emerge from social innovations supported by local communities and that there is an urgent need for a broader political imagination when it comes to land governance. This innovative cross-disciplinary perspective on the pressing problems surrounding global property rights will be of interest to academics, students and professionals with an interest in property law, development economics and land governance.

First published in 1991, this book uses a property rights perspective to analyse why there is such widespread resistance to change in the Soviet Economic System. Many within the ruling stratum benefit considerably from their positions, particularly in terms of access to goods and services. In an original conclusion Jan Winiecki argues that a cost-effective way of removing the resistance of the parasitic ruling stratum would be a system of compensatory payments.

First published in September 1992, the book traces the nature and development of the fundamental legal relationships among slaves, masters, and third parties. It shows how the colonial and antebellum Southern judges and legislators accommodated slaverye(tm)s social relationships into the common law, and how slave law evolved in different states over time in response to social political, economic, and intellectual developments. The book states that the law of slavery in the US South treated slaves both as people and property. It reconciles this apparent contradiction by demonstrating that slaves were defined in the law as items of human property without any legal rights. When the lawmakers recognized slaves as people, they burdened slaves with added legal duties and disabilities. This epitomized in legal terms slaverye(tm)s oppressive social relationships. The book also illustrates how cases in which the lawmakers recognized slaves as people legitimized slaverye(tm)s inhumanity. References in the law to the legal humanity of people held as slaves are shown to be rhetorical devices and cruel ironies that regulated the relative rights of the slavese(tm) owners and other free people that were embodied in people held as slaves. Thus, it is argued that it never makes sense to think of slave legal rights. This was so even when the lawmakers regulated the individual masterse(tm) rights to treat their slaves as they wished. These regulations advanced policies that the lawmakers perceived to be in the public interest within the context of a slave society.

First published in 1997, this volume constitutes a collection of new papers by more than 20 United Kingdom and International experts on general and specific issues relating to the reform of all aspects of property law. Topics covered include the language of property law and the dangers of reform, the role of the Law Commission and the workings of Parliamentary procedures, registration of title to land, landlord and tenant, land pollution, mortgages, sale of goods, the Hague Convention on trusts, together with general comparative papers and papers dealing with specific issues of property law reform affecting Hong Kong, Ireland, Scotland and South Africa. The volume arises out of the successful conference 'The Reform of Property Law' hosted by the Centre for Property Law at The University of Reading in 1996.

This handbook brings together diverse perspectives, major topics, and multiple approaches to one of the biggest legal institutions in society: property. Property touches on many fundamental human questions. It involves decisions about power, economy, morality, work, and ecology. It also involves ideas about where humans fit in the world and how humans relate to more-than-human life. This book will ask in myriad ways such questions as: what property means, what kinds of property there are, what is and should be the relationship between owned and owner, and what is the impact of different forms of property on life in this world? Drawing on a range of socio-legal and empirical methodologies, renowned scholars and rising stars in property from around the world present current issues and map future directions in research. Coming from the place of law but reaching out through cognate disciplines, this handbook provides a comprehensive and accessible survey of current research at the interface of property, society, and the environment. This handbook will appeal to students and researchers across a range of disciplines, including law, sociology, geography, history, and economics.