A Liberal Theory of Property

Property enhances autonomy for most people but not for all. Because it both empowers and disables property requires constant vigilance. A Liberal Theory of Property addresses key questions: how can property be justified? What core values should property law advance and how do those values interrelate? How is a liberal state obligated to act when shaping property law? In a liberal polity the primary commitment to individual autonomy dominates the justification of property founding it on three pillars: carefully delineated private authority structural (but not value) pluralism and relational justice. A genuinely liberal property law meets the legitimacy challenge confronting property by expanding people''s opportunities for individual and collective self-determination while carefully restricting their options of interpersonal domination. The book shows how the three pillars of liberal property account for core features of existing property systems provide a normative vocabulary for evaluating central doctrines and offer directions for urgent reforms.