Alternative Approaches to the Analysis of Property Relations

Contemporary debates increasingly address the problem of understanding property relations. The article shows that many social sciences still draw on a nineteenth-century paradigm, shaped by Hegel, which assumes private owners are guided primarily by selfish interests, producing eclectic institutional interpretations of ownership. Within this framework, the paper highlights major flaws in the dominant liberal (neo-institutional) “bundle of rights” theory, which prioritizes private interests and treats property as an instrumental construct. The article emphasizes the significance of the modern wave of social (unorthodox) property theory, which views ownership as part of broader social relations and underscores the state’s role in shaping institutions to balance interests. Yet it is argued that the classical labor theory of property provides stronger paradigmatic foundations, offering an endogenous understanding of ownership. It rests on the duality of private owners’ interests: while seeking personal benefit, they also use property to produce society’s aggregate product, with society acting as the ultimate owner. This perspective frames public property as the basis of economic relations, resonates with unorthodox notions of deep public ownership, and expands the field of inquiry. It directs attention to the transformation of rights, obligations, and economic institutions in line with societal priorities and an emerging global order.