The Edges of the Field: Lessons on the Obligations of Ownership

In The Edges of the Field Harvard law professor Joseph William Singer offers a brilliant and cogent look at America's complex relation to property and ownership. Incorporating examples as far-reaching as the experience of Malden Mills owner and Polartec manufacturer Aaron Feuerstein, the Torah, and the musical Rent, Singer reminds us that ownership is a curious blend of security and vulnerability between owner and nonowner. He proposes that the manner in which property shapes social relations of power is as important as ownership rights. "A brilliant and creative idea that will sustain for the long-term our economic system." -Aaron Feuerstein, president and CEO of Malden Mills, Inc. "Startling new answers. Singer turns the inherently inegalitarian implication of property on its head." -(starred review) Publishers Weekly "In this compact, challenging book, Joseph Singer argues that with property rights go human responsibilities. The result is very welcome, readable achievement [that is] much needed." -Milner S. Ball, author of Called by Stories: Biblical Sagas and Their Challenge for Law "Harvard law professor Singer is an expert on property law, the focus of this often surprising meditation on what haves and have-nots owe each other." -Booklist Joseph William Singer is professor of law at Harvard Law School and author of Entitlement: The Paradoxes of Property. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.