UDTR Global Rights of Nature Radar

The Reconstitution of Property: Property as a Web of Interests

Identification

Public canonical key

openalex:w2244062890

Authors

Craig Anthony Arnold

Reported year

2002

Reported language

en

Source type

preprint

First detected

2026-11-09T19:04:47.558625+00:00

Last metadata observation

2026-11-09T19:09:16.168511+00:00

Last HTTP verification

Not checked

Institutions reported by the source

University of Louisville

Reported affiliation countries

US

Documentary abstract — original language

The metaphor of property as a of sticks: or of leads to the disintegration of property: a concept of property that is too incoherent, ill-defined, and malleable to be meaningful. This article identifies several theoretical problems with the bundle of rights metaphor, and proposes a new metaphor of property as a of interests. The web of metaphor describes property as interests - including responsibilities, as well as rights - that people, groups, and entities share in objects of those interests (whether tangible or intangible objects). These interests vary with the nature or characteristics of the object, which is at the center of the web. The object's specific characteristics matter both legally and socially. The article identifies 15 different legally relevant categories of object characteristics, as well as 9 strands of connection in the web's relationships. The web of metaphor is built upon emerging environmental, personhood, and expectations theories of property, as well as empirical observation of both judicial and social practice. The article examines several areas of property law in light of the insights gained from this new metaphor, including: 1) regulatory takings and land use; 2) nature-oriented limitations inherent in land and water rights (e.g., public trust doctrine, natural use doctrine, nuisance doctrine); 3) property interests in wildlife and wildlife habitat; 4) property interests in corporations; and 5) the right to exclude and expressive use.

Identifiers

OPENALEX

W2244062890

Documentary context

Documentary family

Working paper

Source-reported types

preprint

Entity mentions are not evidence of legal recognition. Jurisdiction studied is separate from author affiliation country.

Sources

OpenAlex · Record 1 · Record 2

• Document · https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm/SSRN_ID1024244_code621899.pdf?abstractid=1024244&mirid=1
• OpenAlex · https://openalex.org/W2244062890

Documented bibliographic relations

Source-declared references and links; they do not establish legal support or UGLC qualification. Up to 20 outgoing references are displayed.

2 incoming references within the detected corpus

Documentary status

Relevance pending

Library

This identity is not yet included in the Legal Library.