Private Property and Collective Action: Cooperation as a Means of Re-appropriating the World

Abstract:     
This paper reconsiders commonly held views on the ownership and management of private property, contrasting capitalist and simple property, particularly as it relates to the impact of the firm shareholder governance model on the shape of society. I contrast an exchange value standpoint with a use value perspective to explicate current conditions under which neither the state nor the market prevail in organizing economic activity (i.e., the cooperative form of governance and community created brand value). This consideration is motivated by the scale and scope of the modern global crisis which combines financial, economic, social and cultural dimensions to produce world disenchantment (Fischbach, 2009a; Rosa, 2012). Dismissing the alternative of individuals simply forsaking engagement with society as it stands, it becomes necessary to revisit at this historical moment, the ideals on which modern societies are built, including the philosophy of freedom for all. This utopian concept has produced an ideology limited by capitalist notions of private property, motivating this inquiry. This paper offers mechanisms and recommendations regarding the formalized conditions for collective action and definitions of common guiding principles to facilitate new expressions of the principles of co-ordination. Such behaviour will allow for the development of common resources the purpose being a re-appropriation of the world.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 41

Keywords: co-operative, liberalism, brand community, exchange value, use value, microfinance

JEL Classification: B14, D23, D46, J54, L21, M31

working papers series