Ethical Foundations of Property: Socialising Property through Trusteeship

Abstract The widening inequality and discontent concern every economy irrespective of any measure of economic prosperity. The contest and debate centred around the notion of private property, assumes the premise that property is a legitimised unfettered accumulation with a right-based justification. On the contrary, the Gandhian conception of property, tries to reframe the premise that property is social and needs to be justified over its obligatory commitments. I argue that Gandhi’s engagement with property relations reflects the individual pursuit by socialising property. From problematising the individual property rights within the Anthropocene world, the article mapping a Gandhian theory of property identifies the normative structure of property. The individual as the custodian with normative obligatory commitments can foster pluralistic interest while anchoring the ethical foundations of property rights reflecting social justice.