Property in Question: Value Transformation in the Global Economy (Wenner-Gren International Symposium Series) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1859738826 ISBN 13: 9781859738825

Publisher: Routledge, 2004

Synopsis

How has it come about that indigenous cultures, body parts, and sequences of musical notes are considered property? How has the movement from collective to privatized systems affected notions of property? At what point in transaction chains do native cultures, indigenous medicines, or cyberdata become objects and therefore propertized, and what are the social, economic, and ethical considerations for such transformations?Addressing these hotly contested issues and many more, Property in Question interrogates the very concept of property and what is happening to it in the contemporary world, in case studies ranging from Romania to Kazakhstan, Africa to North America. The book examines not only the changing character of the property concept, but also its ideological foundations and political usages. Authors address bio-transactions, music copyright, cyberspace, oil prospecting, debates over privatization of land and factories, and dilemmas arising with new forms of ownership of businesses.Offering a fresh perspective on contemporary economic transformation, this volume is a long overdue investigation of the power of the private property concept, as well as an exploration of how the global economy may be subtly, even invisibly, changing what property means and how we relate to it.

About this title

About the Author

Katherine Verdery Eric R. Wolf Professor of Anthropology and Interim Chair,University of Michigan Caroline Humphrey Professor of Asian Anthropology, University of Cambridge

Review

“A brilliant exploration of the transformation of concepts of property and value at the turn of the millennium. Engaging with the emergence of new forms of property in the post-Communist world, in cyberspace, in intellectual property law, and in relations between indigenous peoples and the state, the essays in this volume push the boundaries of our thinking about one of the central categories of our world.” ―John Frow, University of Edinburgh

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 1859738826
• ISBN 13: 9781859738825
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 320
• Editor: Humphrey Caroline, Verdery Katherine