On Universalizing ‘Nature’ and ‘Property’: the Unravelling of a Master Narrative

In this paper I will show why the master narrative that leading thinkers in the Westhave forged to justify property as an engine of progress is unravelling, and whythe future will never be the same, as far as the relationship between property andnature is concerned. Property and markets will remain important to our existence,but a healthy dose of realism and political wisdom by now defeats any narrativethat extols the supposed superior virtues of property and markets in regulatinghuman interactions with nature. It is time to look elsewhere to find solutions tohave a more sustainable relationship with nature; it is necessary to recognise thatthere are other ways to think to these problems and to our future