In a world of flux and globalization, when old territories are dissolving and new nations and political unions are coming together, who controls ideas, information, and creativity? Who patrols the new frontiers? This volume opens a window to the dark side of globalization and the struggles for autonomy it has generated. The chapters focus on property regimes in crisis as sites where globalization, autonomy, and the political economy of international capitalism intersect. Sites of friction - indigenous land claims, BC forest disputes, conflicts between farmers and the patent owners of genetically modified seeds - demonstrate not only how property laws and intellectual property rights are supporting the expansion of private property regimes but also how local activists are using a politics of place to resist these forces. The work of Palestinian poets, whose attachment to the land is explored in a powerful Coda at the end of the book, shows that a politics of place can help local actors build new bases of autonomy to withstand the forces of globalization.

This exploration of property regimes in crisis opens a window to the dark side of globalization and the struggles for autonomy that have erupted in its wake.

About the Author

William D. Coleman is CIGI Chair in Globalization and Public Policy at the Balsillie School of International Affairs and a professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Waterloo.

Contributors: A. Claire Cutler, Daniel Gorman, Anna Greenspan, Jasmin Habib, Eva Mackey, Sharlene Mollett, Susan M. Preston, Scott Prudham, Austina J. Reed

Book Information
ISBN 9780774820189
Author William D. Coleman
Format Paperback
Page Count 320
Imprint University of British Columbia Press
Publisher University of British Columbia Press
Weight(grams) 480g