Shadow Property and the Hidden Empire of Ego

This book exploresthenatureofliberal propertyinthetwenty-first century. It contains three parts.Thefirst examines how we have arrived attheliberal conceptofproperty-what many scholars callthe'bundleofrights' metaphorofproperty. This part argues thattheliberal conception embodied in the bundleofrights metaphor is really a wayofmasking or hiding whatpropertyreally is: an exerciseofegoabouttheway goods and resources are used. Or, put another way,it enshrines theability to suit personal preferences abouttheway things are used, rather than what might better servethecommon good.Thesecond part provides an important modern critiqueofthebundleofrights metaphor-that, in addition to being a collectionofrights,propertyis also about social relations that exist between people. Throughthese social relations, which are contained in law, any decision that a person makes about how to use a good or resource necessarily carries implications for others. While those effects can be both positiveandnegative, we are much more familiar withthelatter, including mostoftheglobal challenges we face today-climate change, extreme weather, global hunger,andglobal poverty. Taking those global challenges as its focus,thefinal partofthebook suggests possible futuresofpropertyin which it is reconceived in ways that reducethepotential for negative impacts on others.