Property in Question Value Transformation in the Global Economy

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?" Property in Question interrogates the concept of property and what is happening to it in the contemporary world, in case studies ranging from North America to Romania, Kazakhstan to Africa. 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 changing what "property" means and how we relate to it.

Katherine Verdery is Eric R. Wolf Professor of Anthropology and Interim Chair, University of Michigan.

Caroline Humphrey is Professor of Asian Anthropology, University of Cambridge.