Re: <nettime> Hernando de Soto: Egypt's Economic Apartheid (WSJ)

[Angela Mitropoulos <s0metim3s@gmail.com>]

Brian, I agree, it's crucial to talk of the distribution of abundance 
and scarcity.

I wouldn't (quite) agree that neoliberalism 'absorbed most of the 
libertarian ideas and desires of the sixties and seventies and made them 
functional for capitalism.' Capital expanded into new markets, as it 
will always seek to do. What is functional or not is a more complex 
question, and the answer (for me) turns on this very question of legal 
title (and its transmission), because this goes to the matter of 
capital's persistence over time and its creation of new markets. The 
conflicts over the internet and intellectual property is one way to 
think about this. Another is to think about the ways in which the 
'libertarian ideas and desires of the 60s and 70s' have been transformed 
since - and the most obvious way is in the ascendancy of a politics 
around gay marriage, which when it comes down to it is all about 
property and its legible and legal transfer.

Keith,

I hardly think it beside the point to mention studies of homeownership 
in Peru in the context of a discussion of de Soto. I have no problem 
with people posting a recommendation to read de Soto, Marx or anything 
else - and can't see why you would take issue with suggestions other 
than your own. Besides, remarks such as 'Hernando de Soto is an 
interesting figure who attracts a lot of hate mail from "progressives"' 
pre-empts disagreement, obviously. I don't doubt a careful analysis of 
repressive bureaucracy and informal economies are in order, but oddly 
enough I see them in more places than Egypt, Tunisia and the Soviet Union.

Thanks for the reference to Hibou.

best,
Angela


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