Pierre-Joseph Proudhon on Land Ownership

Discussion

Cui Zhiyuan:

"Proudhon and China’s landownership system

Pierre-Joseph Proudhon has challenged Locke’s theory that “private property in land originated in First Occupancy” by emphasizing that population growth makes it impossible for everyone to have private property in land.

Proudhon’s point is that, if private property in land implies indefinite control of the owner, then it is incompatible with population change. Therefore, private property in land, understood as a universal right applying to everyone, cannot exist. In other words, if private landownership implies indefinite control on the part of the owner, it cannot adjust to population change, therefore private landownership cannot be a universal right for everyone; if private landownership adjusts to population change, it cannot be private property in the sense of owners’ indefinite control."

Source

• Essay/Chapter: Liberal socialism and the future of China. A petty bourgeoisie manifesto. Cui Zhiyuan. Chapter 9 of: The Chinese Model of Modern Development. Edited by Tian Yu Cao. [1]