Reinterpreting Property

This collection of essays by one of the country's leading property theorists revitalizes the liberal personality theory of property. Departing from traditional libertarian and economic theories of property, Margaret Jane Radin argues that the law should take into account nonmonetary personal value attached to property—and that some things, such as bodily integrity, are so personal they should not be considered property at all. Gathered here are pieces ranging from Radin's classic early essay on property and personhood to her recent works on governmental "taking" of private property. Margaret Jane Radin is professor of law at Stanford University. She is the author of over twenty-five articles on legal and political theory.

This collection of essays examines central issues of property theory from a variety of perspectives.

Analyses the mediation of property rights and social justice through the prism of 'progressive' constitutional property rights guarantees.

In 1847, in one of the most important cases in Australian legal history, the Chief Justice of NSW, Sir Alfred Stephen, handed down a decision that would have profound implications for both the development of Australian property law and the property rights of the Aboriginal peoples of Australia. The case was Attorney General v Brown, and in his decision Stephen CJ ruled that the laws of property in Australia were governed by feudal principles. The shadow cast by Attorney General v Brown has been a long one, stretching down to the decision in Mabo and beyond. Judicial thinking and much legal scholarship continues to emphasise a connection between the feudal origins of the English law and the state of contemporary Australian property law, thereby perpetuating a "nostalgic" view of Australian property law. This book, in contrast, argues that the feudal imprint on property in Australia had been "washed away" by the early 1860s and that the decades of the early nineteenth century witnessed the making of a distinct Australian property law. Egalitarianism, rather than feudalism, this book argues, shaped the emergence of Australian property law. This book situates legal development in its social and political context, re-evaluating the relationship between political ideas, social values and law reform in early Australia.

Taking the revival of civic republicanism as his point of departure, the author examines the relationship between property, civic virtue, and democracy in post-socialist political thought, and outlines a theory of democratic stakeholding in which citizens have rights of inhabitation in their commonwealth.

This book offers a unique and thought provoking exploration of how property concepts can be substantially reshaped to meet ecological challenges. It takes the discussion beyond its traditional parameters and offers new insights into conceptualizing and justifying property systems, in an age of ecological consequences.

A multidisciplinary overview This new series gathers a broad selection of the best scholarly literature dealing with property rights in American constitutional history. The initial three volumes deal with the historical aspects of property ownership, many of which are relevant to contemporary developments. Another volume is devoted to the contract clause, which was the heart of a great deal of constitutional litigation. Two volumes deal directly and at length with current issues, such as regulatory takings. The authors come from a variety of disciplines, including history, law, and political science, bringing a multidisciplinary approach to the debate, and providing an excellent background for understanding contemporary issues. A versatile classroom and student research resource Because it gathers so many important articles from law reviews, academic journals, and books, including classic essays by prominent 19th-century authorities, this collection is a valuable resource for law schools. But its thorough exploration of a vital issue that has been the concern of legislators, courts, and citizens since the founding of the republic also makes it useful in American History classes. Professors will appreciate the collection because it gives them access to a concentration of material for classroom use and it's a user-friendly way to introduce students to a variety of opinions and, diversity of sources that can get them started on doing their own research. Students will appreciate the many articles as a veritable gold mine of information.

The Idea of Home in Law: Displacement and Dispossession explores an important set of legal and policy issues surrounding the concepts of home and homelessness, taking a growing area of legal scholarship into the new arena of human rights and international law. The collection considers the ideas concerning home - both in the sense of the dwelling place as a special type of property, and territorial claims to homeland - which underpin many contemporary legal problems, by examining a range of contexts where people are displaced or dispossessed from their homes. The essays focusing on dispossession consider themes ranging from mortgage and rent arrears in the UK to responses to the foreclosure crisis in the USA, and from eviction for the purposes of economic development in South Africa to the exclusion of asylum seekers from the UK's social housing and welfare provision, and within the framework of the European Convention on Human Rights. The displacement theme, meanwhile, examines transnational 'home' issues from the experiences of exiles and refugees in areas of conflict to the impact of the broader context of economic, social and cultural rights on attempts to protect housing and home through international law. At the heart of each essay the contributors, experts from across the fields of law, policy, and housing rights, examine the circumstances in which displacement and dispossession take place, and reconsider how law and policy respond to such circumstances with a particular focus on the impact of loss of home for the human person. At a time of particular and increasing concern about security of tenure and the role of law and policy in protecting people who are vulnerable to forced eviction, The Idea of Home in Law presents a bold opportunity to raise questions about the 'rights' and norms associated with housing and home, and to generate new insights for scholarship and for national and international policy debates concerning displacement and dispossession.