La propiedad como hecho social. Una contribución etnográfica a la crítica del economicismo

The contention that property is, basically, a relationship between people (among whom entitlements, privileges and duties regarding certain things are distributed), and not an individual relationship between the owner and his/her property, has been widely argued for in Law studies and in Anthropology. In the aim of providing empirical data to support this thesis, by pointing out some of its implications and criticising economicist approaches, this article describes how the institution works in a squatter settlement of Salvador de Bahia. The case shows that property and social order are closely related to each other, and that several non-economic factors affect their configuration and performance. Something that is usually ignored by those theories based exclusively on utility and efficiency.