| Commodity & Propriety: Competing Visions of Property in American Legal Thought, 1776-1970 Contributor(s): Alexander, Gregory S. (Author) |
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ISBN: 0226013545 ISBN-13: 9780226013541 Publisher: University of Chicago Press OUR PRICE: $48.51 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: June 1999 Annotation: 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. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Law | Property - Law | Legal History - Business & Economics | Economics - Theory |
| Dewey: 330.17 |
| Lexile Measure: 1580 |
| Physical Information: 1.22" H x 6.13" W x 9.01" (1.55 lbs) 496 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 18th Century - Chronological Period - 19th Century - Chronological Period - 20th Century |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: 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. |