Despotic Dominion: Property Rights in British Settler Societies

Johnathan H. Pope is Ph.D. candidate in the History Department at
McMaster University.

Recent advances in the fields of political science, critical and
historical geography, and legal history have fostered interest in the
cultural context of property law. Focusing primarily on Canada and
Australia, the essays in this book examine land as property and are
centred on such issues as Aboriginal–settler relations in regards to
property, the transplantation of British law to the colonies, debates
within settler societies regarding property, and the place of Aboriginal
customs in the settlers’ legal systems. The editors emphasize the
contemporary relevance of debates over land in the context of
globalization, homelessness, and Aboriginal land claims. They encourage
a cultural relativist approach to help resolve these issues today.

More chapters on Australia would help flesh out the text and provide
some balance to the excellent essays that deal with the North American
experience.

Overall, Despotic Dominion is a solid academic volume that is strongly
recommended for anyone interested in this pertinent field of history.