Property: The Very Idea

15175 - Übung

Veit Braun

Do. 14-16 Uhr c.t., Leopoldstr. 13, H3, 3232
Beginn: 20.10.2016   Ende: 09.02.2017

We usually take property for granted – sociologists have even gone so far as to never invent a sociology of property. But what if we, for a moment, suspend our trust in property and ask how people make property and property makes people? This seminar sets out to get a grasp of property: not just formal property rights, but also the shapes property objects themself take and the social structures they demand.

The course will discuss the various dimensions of property such as appropriation and delimitation, drawing from anthropology, economics and political theory. Special attention will be given to private property, its fundamental role for a market economy, and how it produces the free and autonomous subject modern society takes as its cornerstone. Finally, we will also ask for the limits of property – both as a concept and as a social relationship.

The course will be held in English, but advanced language skills are not required.

Literatur

• Macfarlane, Alan (1997), The mystery of property. In C. Hann (ed.), Property relations: Sharing, Exclusion, Legitimacy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Bemerkung

Anwesenheitspflicht in der 1. Veranstaltungsstunde! Sollten Sie aus triftigen Gründen nicht teilnehmen können, so informieren Sie den/die Dozenten/Dozentin rechtzeitig. Unentschuldigtes Fehlen in der 1. Veranstaltungsstunde bedeutet automatisch den Verlust des Kursplatzes.

Voraussetzungen

• regelmäßige und aktive Teilnahme
• kontinuierliche Lektüre der Literatur

Leistungsnachweis

• Referat
• Übungsaufgaben/Hausarbeit