Commodity & Propriety - Competing Visions of Property in American Legal Thought, 1776-1970

Most people understand property as something that is owned, a means of creating individual wealth. But in "Commodity and Propriety," the first full-length history of the meaning of property, Gregory Alexander uncovers in American legal writing a competing vision of property that has existed alongside the traditional conception. Property, Alexander argues, has also been understood as "proprietary," a mechanism for creating and maintaining a properly ordered society. This view of property has even operated in periods--such as the second half of the nineteenth century--when market forces seemed to dominate social and legal relationships.
In demonstrating how the understanding of property as a private basis for the public good has competed with the better-known market-oriented conception, Alexander radically rewrites the history of property, with significant implications for current political debates and recent Supreme Court decisions.

About the author

Gregory S. Alexander is the A. Robert Noll Professor of Law at Cornell Law School. He is the author or coauthor of several books, including "Global Debate over Constitutional Property: The Competing Visions of Property in American Legal Thought," also published by the University of Chicago Press.

Summary

A history of the meaning of property, this text aims to uncover in American legal writing a competing vision of property which has existed alongside the traditional conception. It argues that property has also been understood as propriety, a method for creating and maintaining an organized society.

Product details

• Authors: Gregory S. Alexander, Alexander Gregory S.
• Publisher: University Presses
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 04.06.1999
• EAN: 9780226013541
• ISBN: 978-0-226-01354-1
• No. of pages: 496
• Dimensions: 16 mm x 23 mm x 3 mm
• Weight: 737 g
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Law > Civil law, civil procedural law; Social sciences, law, business > Law > International law, foreign law; USA, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology / General, BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Real Estate / General, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Anthropology / General, LAW / Property, Property & real estate, United States of America, USA, Sociology & anthropology, Sociology and anthropology, Property law: general, Property and real estate, property law