General Introduction
General Introduction
Most of the intellectual production in the social sciences is the outcome of an implicit assumption that we are still living in a State System when in fact the globalization of the economy is reducing the States’ ability to adopt proper rules to address societal issues. To understand this state of affairs, it is important to understand the role played by property in the operation of the liberal Power System. Property is a right of autonomy constitutionally protected. Its justification can be found either in the defence of the individual’s autonomy or via efficiency considerations. The fact is, however, that a sizable proportion of productive property today is concentrated in large, corporate organizations. The exploitation of the possibilities offered by an international open economy to these organizations has led to the production of potentially deadly negative externalities such as climate change, unbearable inequalities and the impoverishment of public institutions. The development of these large organizations has induced changes in the operation of the Power System. They must be understood to identify the existing potential means of action, in particular via proper rules of accounting for the impact of their activities.
Keywords: Social sciences, Globalization, State System, Property, Autonomy, Efficiency, Negative externalities, Climate change, Inequality, Rules of accounting
Policy Press Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs, and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.
