Don`t tell anyone. Positions on property - Floorgroup

F L O O R
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE, LAND POLICY, AND GLOBAL SOCIAL RIGHTS
Working Paper No. 13 (2011)
Benjamin Davy
Don’t tell anyone
Positions on property
Faces of Land Policy — Batch VII
For free download of original posters (A0, high resolution),
please visit www.bodenpolitik.de
FLOOR is an interdisciplinary research group,
partly funded by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.
Principal investigators:
Benjamin Davy (School of Spatial Planning, TU Dortmund University),
Ulrike Davy (Faculty of Law, University of Bielefeld), and
Lutz Leisering (Faculty of Sociology, University of Bielefeld)
www.floorgroup.de
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Abstract & acknowledgments
Launched in 2011, the poster exhibition Faces of Land Policy VII emphasizes
property in land. What does it mean to own land? Presumably, ownership entails rights to the benefit stream of using land, but maybe it also
includes responsibilities.
I used several images that impressed me while I was a fellow at the ZiF,
the Center of Interdisciplinary Research at the University of Bielefeld
from April through June 2011. I am grateful to my co-fellows who helped
me think about property in the context of social policy and poverty reduction: Armando Barrientos, Ulrike Davy, Hartley Dean, Harvey M. Jacobs, Lutz Leisering, Sony Pellissery. I cherish the opportunity, provided
by the ZiF, to spend quality time with just reading and writing. Kai
Mühlnickel introduced me to Bright Eyes and their Landlocked Blues: thank
you! A word to all who listen to von Thünen: As dentists are stronger
land rent bidders than sex shops, the Welt der Erotik in Bielefeld’s Bahnhofstraße had to go. And, of course, thanks to the voices in my head!
Table of contents
Abstract & acknowledgments ....................................................................... 2
Table of contents ............................................................................................. 2
A position not to be controverted ................................................................ 3
A Wordle of property ..................................................................................... 4
Before you continue........................................................................................ 5
Controversial positions on property .......................................................... 20
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FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE, LAND POLICY, AND GLOBAL SOCIAL RIGHTS
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A position not to be controverted
Everybody shall be able, without shame and without unreasonable obstacles, to be a full participant in ordinary, everyday interaction with other people. This means, inter alia, that they shall be able to enjoy their
basic needs under conditions of dignity. The Distribution of the Materials
of this Nourishment, is the constitution of Mine, and Thine, and His; that
is to say, in one word Propriety; and belongeth in all kinds of Commonwealth to the Souveraign Power. The great and chief end therefore, of
Mens uniting into Commonwealths, and putting themselves under Government, is the Preservation of their Property. The first man who, having
enclosed a piece of land, thought of saying ‘This is mine’ and found people simple enough to believe him, was the true founder of civil society. It
is a position not to be controverted, that the earth, in its natural uncultivated state, was, and ever would have continued to be, the COMMON
PROPERTY OF THE HUMAN RACE. The earth therefore, and all things
therein, are the general property of all mankind, exclusive of other beings, from the immediate gift of the creator. The patrimony of the poor
man lies in the strength and dexterity of his hands; and to hinder him
from employing his strength and dexterity in what manner he thinks
proper without injury to his neighbour, is a plain violation of this most
sacred property. If chattel slavery be unjust, then is private property in
land unjust. ... This is but a statement in different form of the law of rent.
What we call land is an element of nature inextricably interwoven with
men’s institutions. To isolate it and form a market out of it was perhaps
the weirdest of all undertakings of our ancestors. Each piece of property
should be used in the manner that will insure that the sum of all pieces of
property will have maximum value, as determined by market forces.
Property, however small, gives security and insurance against misfortune
and liberty for new adventure, thus cultivating a sense of proprietorship
in a civilisation, of independence of status, which makes governments
appear as servants, not as masters, and institutions as the means to freedom, not to servitude. The construction of various property configurations, each with its unique bundle of entitlements and responsibilities,
can be made in a way that both better meets the changing needs of society and provides the platform for the possibility of future change. We are
much stronger if we learn to respect the multiple approaches proposed,
both for how we do our science as well as how diverse policies can lead
to better outcomes when learning and adaptation are enhanced. But it all
boils down to one quotable phrase: If you love something, give it away.
F L O O R
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE, LAND POLICY, AND GLOBAL SOCIAL RIGHTS
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A Wordle of property
Word cloud produced by www.wordle.net
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FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE, LAND POLICY, AND GLOBAL SOCIAL RIGHTS
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Before you continue
… please ask yourself:
How many voices do you hear?
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FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE, LAND POLICY, AND GLOBAL SOCIAL RIGHTS
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Image © Benjamin Davy 2011 (Bauernhaus Museum, Bielefeld, Germany)
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FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE, LAND POLICY, AND GLOBAL SOCIAL RIGHTS
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Image © Benjamin Davy 2011 (Groß-Barop, Dortmund, Germany)
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FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE, LAND POLICY, AND GLOBAL SOCIAL RIGHTS
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Image © Benjamin Davy 2011 (Stellenbosch, South Africa)
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FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE, LAND POLICY, AND GLOBAL SOCIAL RIGHTS
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Image © Benjamin Davy 2011 (Stellenbosch, South Africa)
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FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE, LAND POLICY, AND GLOBAL SOCIAL RIGHTS
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Image © Benjamin Davy 2011 (Berlin, Germany)
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FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE, LAND POLICY, AND GLOBAL SOCIAL RIGHTS
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Image © Benjamin Davy 2011 (Stadtwald Bielefeld, Germany)
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FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE, LAND POLICY, AND GLOBAL SOCIAL RIGHTS
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Image © Benjamin Davy 2011 (Stellenbosch, South Africa)
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FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE, LAND POLICY, AND GLOBAL SOCIAL RIGHTS
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Image © Benjamin Davy 2011 (Berlin, Germany)
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FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE, LAND POLICY, AND GLOBAL SOCIAL RIGHTS
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Image © Benjamin Davy 2011 (Groß-Barop, Dortmund, Germany)
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FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE, LAND POLICY, AND GLOBAL SOCIAL RIGHTS
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Image © Benjamin Davy 2011 (Bielefeld, Germany)
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FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE, LAND POLICY, AND GLOBAL SOCIAL RIGHTS
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Image © Benjamin Davy 2011 (Hagen, Germany)
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FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE, LAND POLICY, AND GLOBAL SOCIAL RIGHTS
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Image © Benjamin Davy 2011 (Jüdisches Museum, Berlin, Germany)
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FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE, LAND POLICY, AND GLOBAL SOCIAL RIGHTS
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Image © Benjamin Davy 2011 (ZiF, Bielefeld, Germany)
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FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE, LAND POLICY, AND GLOBAL SOCIAL RIGHTS
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Image © Benjamin Davy 2011 (ZiF, Bielefeld, Germany)
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FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE, LAND POLICY, AND GLOBAL SOCIAL RIGHTS
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Controversial positions on property
The basic necessities are food, clothing and housing, but an adequate
standard of living requires more. How much more is required cannot be
stated in general terms, but will depend on cultural conditions in the society concerned. The essential point is that everybody shall be able, without shame and without unreasonable obstacles, to be a full participant in
ordinary, everyday interaction with other people. This means, inter alia,
that they shall be able to enjoy their basic needs under conditions of dignity.
Eide, Asbjørn. The right to an adequate standard of living including the
right to food. In: Eide, Asbjørn, Catarina Krause & Allan Rosas (editors)
(2001) Economic, social and cultural rights. 2nd edition. Dordrecht, Boston, & London: Martinus Nijhoff: 133–148 (133).
The Distribution of the Materials of this Nourishment, is the constitution
of Mine, and Thine, and His; that is to say, in one word Propriety; and
belongeth in all kinds of Common-wealth to the Souveraign Power. For
where there is no Common-wealth, there is … a perpetuall warre of every man against his neighbour.
Hobbes, Thomas (1651/1985) Leviathan, or the matter, forme, & power of a
common-wealth ecclesiasticall and civill. Introduction by C. B. Macpherson. Harmondsworth: Penguin: 295–296 (Part II, Chapter 24).
And ’tis not without reason, that he seeks out, and is willing to joyn in
Society with others who are already united, or have a mind to unite for
the mutual Preservation of their Lives, Liberties and Estates, which I call
by the general Name, Property. The great and chief end therefore, of Mens
uniting into Commonwealths, and putting themselves under Government, is the Preservation of their Property. To which in the state of Nature
there are many things wanting.
Locke, John (1698/1991) Two treatises of government: in the former, the
false principles and foundation of Sir Robert Filmer, and his followers, are
detected and overthrown. The latter is an essay concerning the true original, extent, and end of civil-government. Edited by Peter Laslett. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 350–351 (II, §§ 123 and 124)
The first man who, having enclosed a piece of land, thought of saying
‘This is mine’ and found people simple enough to believe him, was the
true founder of civil society. How many crimes, wars, murders; how
much misery and horror the human race would have been spared if
someone had pulled up the stakes and filled in the ditch and cried out to
his fellow men: ‘Beware of listening to this impostor. You are lost if you
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FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE, LAND POLICY, AND GLOBAL SOCIAL RIGHTS
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forget that the fruits of the earth belong to everyone and the earth itself
belongs to no one!’
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques (1755) Discourse on the origins and foundations of
inequality among men. In: Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1984) A discourse on
inequality. Translated by Maurice Cranston. Harmondsworth: Penguin:
55–137 (109).
It is a position not to be controverted, that the earth, in its natural uncultivated state, was, and ever would have continued to be, the COMMON
PROPERTY OF THE HUMAN RACE. In that state every man would have been
born to property. He would have been a joint life-proprietor with the rest
in the property of the foil, and in all its natural productions, vegetable
and animal. … There could be no such thing as landed property originally. Man did not make the earth, and, though he had a natural right to occupy it, he had no right to locate as his property in perpetuity any part of it:
neither did the Creator of the earth open a land-office, from whence the
first title-deeds should issue.
Paine, Thomas (1797/1903) Agrarian justice, being a plan for meliorating
the condition of man. 2nd edition. London: Adlard & Parsons: 12–13.
The earth therefore, and all things therein, are the general property of all
mankind, exclusive of other beings, from the immediate gift of the creator. And, while the earth continued bare of inhabitants, it is reasonable to
suppose, that all was in common among them, and that every one took
from the public stock to his own use such things as his immediate necessities required.
Blackstone, William (1766/1979) Commentaries on the laws of England.
Volume II (Of the Rights of Things). With an introduction by A. W. Brian
Simpson. Chicago & London: University of Chicago Press: 3 (Book II,
Chapter 1).
The property which every man has in his own labour, as it is the original
foundation of all other property, so it is the most sacred and inviolable.
The patrimony of the poor man lies in the strength and dexterity of his
hands; and to hinder him from employing his strength and dexterity in
what manner he thinks proper without injury to his neighbour, is a plain
violation of this most sacred property.
Smith, Adam (1776/1993) An inquiry into the nature and causes of the
wealth of nations. Edited by Kathryn Sutherland. Oxford & New York:
Oxford University Press: 120.
If chattel slavery be unjust, then is private property in land unjust. For,
let the circumstances be what they may—the ownership of land will al-
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FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE, LAND POLICY, AND GLOBAL SOCIAL RIGHTS
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ways give the ownership of men, to a degree measured by the necessity
(real or artificial) for the use of land. This is but a statement in different
form of the law of rent. And when that necessity is absolute—when starvation is the alternative to the use of land, then does the ownership of
men involved in the ownership of land become absolute.
George, Henry (1879/1889) Progress and poverty. An inquiry into the
cause of industrial depressions and of increase of want with increase of
wealth. New York: United States Book Company: 249–250 [Book VII,
chapter II]).
What we call land is an element of nature inextricably interwoven with
men’s institutions. To isolate it and form a market out of it was perhaps
the weirdest of all undertakings of our ancestors.
Polanyi, Karl (1944/1957) The great transformation. The political and economic origins of our time. Boston: Beacon Press: 178.
The basic axiom of this theory is that each piece of property should be
used in the manner that will insure that the sum of all pieces of property
will have maximum value, as determined by market forces. In other
words, every piece of property should be used in the manner that will
give it the greatest value (i.e., its ‘highest and best use’) without causing a
corresponding decrease in the value of other property. The zoning ordinance can achieve this goal by prohibiting the construction of ‘nuisances’
…
Babcock, Richard F. (1966) The zoning game. Municipal practices and policies. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press: 117.
Capitalists, in the sense of owners of property, do show common features
when examined in terms of social class, but these are not derived from
the fact that capital gives power over labour, nor primarily from the fact
that capital yields an income, but rather from the fact that property, however small, gives security and insurance against misfortune and liberty
for new adventure, thus cultivating a sense of proprietorship in a civilisation, of independence of status, which makes governments appear as
servants, not as masters, and institutions as the means to freedom, not to
servitude.
Marshall, T. H. (Thomas Humphrey) (1950) Citizenship and social class
and other essays. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 112–113.
Richness does not mean nihilism. The construction of various property
configurations, each with its unique bundle of entitlements and responsibilities, can be made in a way that both better meets the changing needs
F L O O R
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE, LAND POLICY, AND GLOBAL SOCIAL RIGHTS
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of society and provides the platform for the possibility of future change,
and at the same time maintains a sufficient level of coherence and certainty that validates property law as a meaningful mechanism that stands
firmly on its own feet.
Lehavi, Amnon (2008) Mixing property. Seaton Hall Law Review 38:
137–212 (212).
We are much stronger if we learn to respect the multiple approaches
proposed, both for how we do our science as well as how diverse policies
can lead to better outcomes when learning and adaptation are enhanced.
As a discipline, we can move forward when we embrace learning from
multiple approaches. As citizens of the world, we must learn there are no
blueprints that fit all the puzzling policy questions we face.
Ostrom, Elinor (2006) The 2005 James Madison Award Lecture: Converting threats into opportunities. Political Science and Politics 39 (1) 3–12
(9).
I keep drinking the ink from my pen
And I’m balancing history books up on my head
But it all boils down to one quotable phrase
If you love something, give it away
Bright Eyes (2005) Landlocked Blues. From the CD I’m Wide Awake It's
Morning (lyrics by Conor Oberst).
F L O O R
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE, LAND POLICY, AND GLOBAL SOCIAL RIGHTS