> > When I see this kind of anthropological observation, I wonder whether
> > the English word "property" precisely expresses the concept that is in
> > the culture being observed, or whether there might not be a rather
> > sloppy translation taking place (especially when a professional
> > anthropologist is not involved).
There weren't many anthropologists available in 1798. And he idea that hunter gatherers had no propertied classes is so entrenched in popular culture in 2004 that it is a brave anthropologist who critiques it now.
What one has to remember here is that any manifestation of a propertied class within an indigenous society was _not_ convenient to a new settler sociey. The dominant ideology of a "propertyless people" was the basis of the legal doctrine of _terra nullius_ which prevailed in Australian property law until the High Court's Mabo Judgement (1992).
As I said, the example of Bennelong was noted in writing by at least two different observers, both of them well-known figures from settler history, which makes them eaasily checked. There are better examples from other regions.
Michael Dawson said:
> I'm not sure what point Grant is trying to make.
Eubulides asked me for references regarding class in Australian indigenous societies.
> It isn't true that
> Europeans were the first people with "property rights," so what's the
> controversy here?
I don't know.
> Property is an institution that began with the transition
> to "civilization" several thousand years ago. As tribal societies
developed
> big men to redistribute surpluses, some of the big men began to conclude
> that some of the surplus was theirs from the start -- a pretty natural
> conclusion, once big men were born into a long line of big men ancestors.
> This phenomenon happened independently at many places and places around
the
> world. Europe, despite its modernization of the institution, merely
> inherited "property" concepts from some of these others places. So what?
I couldn't agree more. I guess the controversy comes from two directions: (1) landowners who perceive a challenge to their social legitimacy and (2) leftists who are attached to the idea of "primitive communism".
regards,
Grant.