Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 1 of 1
Full-Text Articles in Law
From Reparation To Restoration: Moving Beyond Restoring Property Rights To Restoring Political And Economic Visibility, Bernadette Atuahene
From Reparation To Restoration: Moving Beyond Restoring Property Rights To Restoring Political And Economic Visibility, Bernadette Atuahene
All Faculty Scholarship
Abstract: How does a democratic state legitimize strong property rights when property arrangements are widely perceived to be defined by past theft? The answer, I argue, is through restorative justice measures that redistribute wealth based on past dispossession. This answer, however, leads to two more complex questions: Who gets priority in the restorative process given limited resources and how should the process unfold? The concise answers to these two ancillary questions are: First, instances of what I call property-induced invisibility should be prioritized as a baseline for achieving legitimacy. When property is confiscated in this manner people are removed from …