James Salzman Books
James Salzman is a professor of environmental law at UCLA and UC Santa Barbara, specializing in environmental policy and property rights.
Known for: Mine!: How the Hidden Rules of Ownership Control Our Lives
Books by James Salzman
Mine!: How the Hidden Rules of Ownership Control Our Lives
Ownership seems obvious until it suddenly isn’t. We assume we know what belongs to us, what belongs to others, and what rules decide the boundary. But everyday life is full of ownership conflicts that reveal how unstable those assumptions really are: a shoveled parking spot, a reserved seat, an idea at work, your personal data online, even parts of your own body. In Mine!, legal scholars Michael Heller and James Salzman uncover the invisible system of rules, customs, and moral intuitions that quietly governs these disputes. Their central insight is that ownership is not just about law on paper. It is also shaped by social expectations, historical habits, economic incentives, and raw power. By showing how people make claims over land, objects, identities, inventions, genes, and digital traces, the authors reveal that property is one of the deepest organizing forces in modern life. It determines not only who gets what, but also who has freedom, security, dignity, and control. Heller, a leading property theorist, and Salzman, an expert in environmental and regulatory law, bring authority, clarity, and wit to a subject that affects everyone. This book turns ordinary disputes into a sharp guide to how society really works.
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Ownership Begins With Everyday Puzzles
The fastest way to understand property is to notice when it breaks down. Ownership often feels natural and settled, but the authors show that we usually become aware of it only in moments of friction: someone “saves” a seat before a show, shovels out a parking space after a snowstorm, claims a desk ...
From Mine!: How the Hidden Rules of Ownership Control Our Lives
Six Stories Explain Most Ownership Claims
People rarely argue about ownership in abstract legal terms. Instead, they tell stories. One of the book’s most powerful ideas is that across cultures and legal systems, ownership claims tend to rely on a limited set of recurring narratives. These include first possession, labor and investment, cont...
From Mine!: How the Hidden Rules of Ownership Control Our Lives
Possession Often Creates Powerful Claims
One of the oldest ownership instincts is brutally simple: if I control it, it is mine. Possession carries force because it is visible, practical, and easy for others to recognize. A person sitting in a chair, occupying land, holding an object, or controlling access to a resource often gains an immed...
From Mine!: How the Hidden Rules of Ownership Control Our Lives
Labor And Attachment Shape Moral Entitlement
We often believe effort should be rewarded. If you work on something, improve it, build it, or care for it, your claim feels stronger. Heller and Salzman show how deeply this intuition runs. The person who gardens a neglected plot, repairs a broken house, curates a shared project, or spends hours cl...
From Mine!: How the Hidden Rules of Ownership Control Our Lives
Your Body Is Not Simple Property
Nothing feels more inherently ours than our own body, yet the book shows that self-ownership is one of the most complex and contested ideas in law. We speak easily of bodily autonomy, but rights over organs, tissue samples, genetic material, reproductive capacity, and medical information are fragmen...
From Mine!: How the Hidden Rules of Ownership Control Our Lives
Families Inherit More Than Wealth
Inheritance is often described as the transfer of property after death, but Heller and Salzman show that it does much more than move assets. It transmits identity, obligation, memory, privilege, and conflict. Family ownership is never purely economic. A house, a ring, a business, or a collection may...
From Mine!: How the Hidden Rules of Ownership Control Our Lives
About James Salzman
James Salzman is a professor of environmental law at UCLA and UC Santa Barbara, specializing in environmental policy and property rights.
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James Salzman is a professor of environmental law at UCLA and UC Santa Barbara, specializing in environmental policy and property rights.
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