Spoilage and Squatting: A Lockean Argument

Abstract

AbstractJohn Locke is generally seen as an unequivocal defender of private property. However, taken normatively, certain aspects of his argument leave room for interesting loopholes with relevance to some of today’s social and political crises. This paper focuses largely on the spoilage proviso—in which Locke warns against appropriating more than one can make use of—and its possible application to abandoned buildings and the potential for legitimate productive use to be made of them by people other than the legal owner. Using two case studies in which squatters have actively reversed the dereliction of abandoned buildings, this article aims to build a defence of certain types of squatting based on the limitations Locke has placed on the appropriation and (by some readings) the retention of property.