Property and Freedom

Benjamin Barros, Widener University School of Law

Abstract

The relationship between property and freedom has typically been discussed in the context of deontological debates about whether private property should be immune from state interference. This essay shifts the discussion of property and freedom to a new context, examining the relationship between the two from an institutional perspective. In this new context, two related issues become paramount: to what degree does the institution of private property protect individual freedom, and to what degree is individual freedom possible without the institution of private property? The essay explores these questions by examining three ways in which the institution of private property promotes freedom: by providing a zone of individual autonomy of privacy, by distributing power, and by providing the resources that people need to be free. The essay uses this discussion to make four substantive points. First, freedom depends in an institutional sense on private property. Second, the relationship between private property and freedom tends to support, rather than undermine, arguments for property redistribution. Third, different types of property (e.g., land v. money) and different property rights (e.g., the right to exclude v. the right to alienate) promote freedom in different ways. Finally, the connection between property and freedom places an important institutional constraint on liberal egalitarian thinkers who seek to combine a commitment to certain forms of individual freedom with a commitment to certain forms of resource equality.