Commodity & Propriety

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.

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Most people understand property as something that is owned, a means of creating individual wealth. However, in this text a 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 19th 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, the author of this book rewrites the history of property, with significant implications for current political debates and recent Supreme Court decisions.