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Spoilage and squatting: A Lockean argument

Spoilage and squatting: A Lockean argument
Spoilage and squatting: A Lockean argument
John Locke is generally seen as an unequivocal defender of private property. However, taken normatively, certain aspects of his argument leave room for interesting loopholes with relevance to some of today’s social and political crises. This paper focuses largely on the spoilage proviso – in which Locke warns against appropriating more than one can make use of – and its possible application to abandoned buildings and the potential for legitimate productive use to be made of them by people other than the legal owner. Using two case studies in which squatters have actively reversed the dereliction of abandoned buildings, this article aims to build a defence of certain types of squatting based on the limitations Locke has placed on the appropriation and (by some readings) the retention of property.
1356-4765
1-19
Harding, Eloise
148caca4-c812-4de2-9860-b50d35a6a001
Harding, Eloise
148caca4-c812-4de2-9860-b50d35a6a001

Harding, Eloise (2019) Spoilage and squatting: A Lockean argument. Res Publica, 1-19. (doi:10.1007/s11158-019-09445-0).

Record type: Article

Abstract

John Locke is generally seen as an unequivocal defender of private property. However, taken normatively, certain aspects of his argument leave room for interesting loopholes with relevance to some of today’s social and political crises. This paper focuses largely on the spoilage proviso – in which Locke warns against appropriating more than one can make use of – and its possible application to abandoned buildings and the potential for legitimate productive use to be made of them by people other than the legal owner. Using two case studies in which squatters have actively reversed the dereliction of abandoned buildings, this article aims to build a defence of certain types of squatting based on the limitations Locke has placed on the appropriation and (by some readings) the retention of property.

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Accepted/In Press date: 4 November 2019
e-pub ahead of print date: 20 November 2019

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 435891
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/435891
ISSN: 1356-4765
PURE UUID: c48c992a-62c4-4dbc-8671-7fd874752211

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Date deposited: 22 Nov 2019 17:30
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 05:03

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