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Becoming private property: custom, law, and the geographies of ‘ownership’ in 18th- and 19th-century England

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-08, 15:37 authored by Carl GriffinCarl Griffin
The making private of hitherto public goods is a central tenet of neoliberalism. From land in Africa, Asia, and South America to the assertion of property rights over genes and cells by corporations, the process(es) of making private property matters more than ever. And yet, despite this importance, we know remarkably little about the spatial plays through which things become private property. In this paper I seek to address this imbalance by focusing upon the formative context of 18th- and early-19th-century England. The specific lens is wood, that most critical of all ‘natural’ things other than land in the transition to market-driven economies. It is shown that the interplay between custom, law, and local practices rendered stable and aspatial definitions of property impossible. Whilst law was the key technology through which property was mediated, the cadence of particular places gave these mediations distinctive forms. I conclude that not only must we take property seriously, but we must also take the conditions and contexts of its making seriously too.

History

Publication status

  • Published

Journal

Environment and Planning A

ISSN

0308-518X

Publisher

Pion

Issue

3

Volume

42

Page range

747-762

Department affiliated with

  • Geography Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2013-09-06

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