Amid the shift towards neoliberalism and the privatization of resources, this book provides a radical new lens to view property and property theory. Boldly challenging the conventional theories of property law that have shaped our understanding for centuries, leading expert Paddy Ireland explores the rise and growth of new intangible property forms; the nature of ‘investment’ and of property-as-capital; and the empirical realities of modern property. Raising broader questions about ownership in society, the author ignites a powerful conversation about the increasingly unequal distribution of wealth, forcing us to confront that our current property system bears considerable responsibility for the current ‘polycrisis. This groundbreaking work will set the agenda for a new era in property theory.

Table of Contents:
1 Introduction 2 From Thing-Ownership to Bundle of Rights to Social Relation Property as thing-ownership: the Blackstonian conception 'Heroic reification': creating objects of property The conceptual limitations of ‘property’ and ‘ownership’ The rise of property as thing-ownership From bundle of rights to social relation Vanishing into thin air: property as a ‘conceptual mirage’ 3 The Dual Nature of Property The revolution in property: institutionalising modern property Private property, individual autonomy and identity Personal possessions versus productive resources Capital, capitalist and capitalism Property-as-capital The reconceptualisation of the joint stock company share 4 Profiting from the Efforts of Others Capital and investment Profiting from the ownership of productive resources The rise of ‘rentierism’ The new enclosures Profiting from debt The distribution of wealth and capital The gender, racial and inter-generational dimensions of wealth inequality Ownership of public debt Rising private wealth, declining public wealth Speculating on the future 5 Defending the Property Status Quo: Analytical Jurisprudence The new essentialism: reviving property as thing-ownership The ubiquity of property institutions The dangers of abstraction Dominium in Roman law The idea of property in law 6 Defending the Property Status Quo: Law and Economics The modern corporation and the threat to shareholder rights Social democracy and the socialised corporation Defending the rentier: the market for corporate control Contractual theories of the corporation: reprivatising the public company The fictional corporation rematerialises The rise of financialised corporate governance Information cost theories of property Facilitating the market: functionalism and efficiency Property rights as ‘special’ 7 Safeguarding Property-as-Capital Universalising capitalism Historicising property: private property and capitalism Creating property-as-capital Prioritising the investor interest The new aristocracy of finance Containing democracy: the ‘new constitutionalism’ Derisking new property Neoliberal ideology versus neoliberal practice 8 Property and Social Transformation Property as a historical category Thing-ownership, bundles of rights or social relation? The social relational dimensions of property Bringing capitalism back in Capitalism’s logic of process The moral logic of capitalism Changing the logic: gradual transformative change? References Index