No Lawless Place: Foregrounding Property in Sociology

Abstract

Sociologists examine space and place as constitutive of social life but rarely attend to the fact that places are also real property. The authors use a law and society lens to investigate how property regulations (property rights, codes, zoning, and licensure) shape place characteristics for two very different cases: a neighborhood and a bathhouse. These regulations influence the characteristics that sociologists argue constitute places: location, materiality, meaning, and use. Both cases demonstrate how attending to the “legal life of place” reveals hidden mechanisms, challenges old assumptions, and opens new lines of inquiry. The authors conclude by discussing how property is hiding all over existing urban ethnographies and is central to the most pressing social issue of our time: the pandemic. The authors argue that no place is lawless and, therefore, that sociologists ought to foreground property in place research in order to highlight core sociological concerns such as power, the state, and inequality.

Race, Property, and Erasure in the Rust Belt

“…Elements of local culture may be erased-often an effort to promote the dominance of White culture (Anderson 2015). Detroit's historically Black Cass Corridor was rebranded Midtown as part of revitalization efforts in the Downtown area (Elliott 2018;Herbert and Orne, 2021) and now boasts some of the highest rents in the city. Rebranding erases the history and culture that defined Cass Corridor in the past, especially as longtime residents are increasingly experiencing gentrification-induced economic displacement from this neighborhood (Mah 2021).…”

The Legal Life of Property Relations

“…However, in this neoliberal age of housing policy, we must explore a radically different urban future where housing is a legal right. As Herbert and Orne (2021) note, "when we regulate property, we are simultaneously regulating social relationships" (p. 10). This book serves as an important contribution to the critical understanding and rethinking of the institutional and regulatory arrangements shaping housing outcomes.…”

“…In their 2021 article, Herbert and Orne argue that while sociologists have been attentive to theories of space and place, sociology stands to gain from a sociolegal orientation to studying property. They write, “Our discipline has paid little attention to how real property operates in and influences our social world in both ideological and material ways, as cultural practice but also through laws and regulations that control conditions, access, and use of particular places” (Herbert and Orne 2021:1). They end the article urging sociologists to foreground the role of real property in research.…”

Personal, Not Real: Manufactured Housing Insecurity, Real Property, and the Law

“…Herbert & Orne (2021) also include licensure as a form of property regulation, because licenses control activities that can take place on a property.2 In many states, MH can be retitled as real estate, but this requires that the home be affixed to a permanent foundation on land that is owned by the homeowner. The lengthy process involves surrendering of the original title, additional documentation, and fees (CFPB 2014).…”