Commodity & propriety : competing visions of property in American legal thought, 1776-1970 / Gregory S. Alexander.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Alexander, Gregory S., 1948-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Property--Social aspects--United States--History.

Property.

Property--United States--History.

Civil society--United States--History.

Civil society.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (500 p.)

Edition:

1999th ed.

Other Title:

Commodity and propriety

Place of Publication:

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 1997.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

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.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

PART ONE: THE CIVIC REPUBLICAN CULTURE, 1776-1800

PART TWO: THE COMMERCIAL RLEPUBLICAN CULTURE, 1800-1860

PART THREE: THE INDUSTRIAL CULTURE 1870-1917

PART FOUR: THE LATE MODERN CULTURE 1917-1970

Epilogue

Notes

lndex

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 387-470) and index.

ISBN:

9781299104488

1299104487

9780226013527

0226013529

OCLC:

808772284