property

Contr'un

A Tale of Three Provisos

August 21, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
Related: Some thoughts on Locke’s proviso Responses on Locke’s proviso “Must we say, with some who pretend to metaphysics, that property is the expression of individuality, of the personality, of the self? But possession largely suffices for that expression…” — P.-J. Proudhon, The Theory of Property “I pass death with the dying, and birth with the new-washed babe …. and am not contained between my hat and boots…” — Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself” It’s funny, in some ways at least, how Proudhon has earned a rather scandalous reputation for his work on property, while Locke remains the name to […]
Contr'un

Notes on “the disposition of intellectual products”

July 24, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
I’m always surprised by the lasting (and often false) impression that this bit of off-the-cuff theorizing has left in certain circles. But I’m also generally pleasantly surprised, when I am reminded of its existence that, despite being the product of a very different place in my theoretical development than I occupy at present, it’s fairly solid stuff. It was very specifically part of a series of attempts to determine just how far, and in what directions, fairly conventional property theory would stretch when applied in anarchistic contexts. So it has to be read as a series of speculations, aimed at […]
Contr'un

Notes on Occupancy & Use (The Infamous Summer House Thread)

July 15, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
[one_third][/one_third][two_third_last] The question of occupancy and use is one which seems particularly difficult to address in a way which escapes a constant return to the same questions. There are certainly logical reasons for that: There are arguably two different models for this sort of land tenure in Proudhon, one based on simple possession and the other on simple property. Questions of “use” quickly lead into questions about “rent,” and we are not always particularly careful to distinguish between “economic rent,” “rent” as a form of “increase,” and “rent” as payment for services directly rendered. As long as we stick close […]
Contr'un

Proudhon, The Theory of Property — Chapter III (part 1 of 2)

June 16, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
[Here is a particular rough working translation of a particularly interesting section of The Theory of Property. Because it never underwent the careful final editing that Proudhon gave his published works, the text poses a few extra problems for the translator. I think the handful of places where a little more work will be needed to clarify things will be fairly obvious to most readers.] THE THEORY OF PROPERTY CHAPTER III Different ways of possessing the land: in community, under the feudal system, sovereignty or property. — Examination of the first two modes: rebuttal. The earth can be possessed in […]
Contr'un

Proudhon, The various meanings of the word property

June 12, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
[Here’s the first section of Proudhon’s The Theory of Property, in rough English translation.] THEORY OF PROPERTY CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION § I. — The various meanings of the word property. In 1840, I promised to give a solution of the problem of property, and I renewed my promise in 1846. Today I keep my word. It is my turn to defend property, not against the phalansterians, the communists and the agrarians, who are no more, but against those who saved it in June 1848, in June 1849, in May 1830, in December 1851, and who have since brought it low. […]
Utopian and Scientific

Gabriel-Desire Laverdant, “Of Property” (1846)

May 25, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
  FROM THE FRENCH OF “LA PHALANGE.” Translated for the Harbinger.   OF PROPERTY, AND THE VARIOUS LEGITIMATE MODES OF ACQUIRING IT. ——————- Attractions are proportional to Destinies. The Series distribute the Harmonies. ——————- FIRST SECTION. ATTRACTIONS. I. Unity, the Fundamental Principle. The theory of Association is true simply because it is true that Attractions are proportional to Destinies. It is upon Attractions that the great Social Architect has framed the edifice of our terrestrial destiny. In other words, the Phalanstery is made in the image of Man. What constitutes the supreme science of Fourier, is the thorough knowledge of […]
Uncategorized

Note on slavery and the origins of property

May 9, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
Several people, knowing my interest in the question of property, have sent me links to a blog post by Stephen Keating, “Are Freedom and Violence Linked?,” which discusses some of what David Graeber has to say about slavery and the origins of property in his book, Debt: The First 5000 Years. There are parts of Keating’s argument to which I’m sympathetic, such as his concern that the notion of individual property rights may mask the essentially social nature of property. But his key point seems to be this: “The dirty secret is that this conception of property emerged out of […]
Contr'un

The Gift Economy of Property: From Property to Gifts

April 30, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
The Gift Economy of Property Thesis From the Self to Property From Property to Gifts Gifting Property    3. I’m obviously not talking about “property” in any of the very narrow senses that it has been given, including the narrower senses given to it by Proudhon. Or, rather, I am seeking a broad, underlying definition, which will allow us to relate those more limited senses of the term to one another. We’ll probably find ourselves drowning in specific definitions pretty quickly here, but for a moment or two more, let’s stay general and try to clarify just what sort of […]
Contr'un

The Gift Economy of Property: From the Self to Property

April 29, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
The Gift Economy of Property Thesis From the Self to Property  From Property to Gifts Gifting Property  2. Having laid out a little more clearly the philosophical moves I’m making with the “gift economy of property,” I probably need to clarify again the rationale for such a idiosyncratic approach to the question of property. Because it is explicitly a mutualist anarchist approach, and specifically a neo-Proudhonian approach, there’s a whole lot of critique of property at the foundations, a strong sense that, as desirable as the aims of property might be, the available means of founding it appear to be […]