A Deleuzean interrogation of property and subjectivity

The work of Gilles Deleuze presents us with problems that are directly relevant to the theorising of property. Deleuze's project is to establish a thought that does not base itself upon essential questions (such as 'what is it?' or 'what is this?') but instead locates thought within the circumstances through which it is capable of being thought. For this reason he is directly concerned with proprietary issues such as grounds, claiming, territory, and subjectivity. This thesis utilises aspects of Deleuze's work in order to think through some of these implications for property theory, meaning how property and the subject can be currently thought of. In so doing, it is critical of attempts to think property as a universal essence, whether as some particular aspect or function (e.g. alienation), or as a self-same mode or order premised upon dialectics and/or the feminine. Rather, it argues that property and subjectivity must be understood in terms of control, meaning the current regime of late or contemporary capitalism. Through this investigation it argues that both property and the subject are effects rather than essences. In such case, property is (paradoxically) the present assertion of what property will be, while the subject is effectively de-actualised and kept in a state of non-determination: a 'whatever' subject. The thesis utilises a number of writers and theorists in pursuing these lines, including David Hume, Jeanne Schroeder, Hegel, Hardt & Negri, Alain Pottage, Nietzsche, Jean Baudrillard, Michel Foucault and Marilyn $trathem, amongst others.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo