Property and Territory

This article is concerned with how law organizes and controls space. It argues that property and territory are connected, historically produced, sets of practices for ordering and controlling space. It seeks to understand the creation of these systems to better understand their limits. It makes three specific claims: that property and territory are directly connected, historically produced practices, that they have their origin in English colonialism, and that that legacy continues to shape the legal ordering of space today.

Dr Henry Jones is Lecturer in Law at Durham University. Prior to joining Durham in 2013 he completed a PhD, entitled "Unequal from the Start: A History of International Law in the Context of Colonialism", at the University of Leicester. Henry's research interests are in legal history and legal theory generally, with a particular focus on international law.

His research has focused on the use of historical method in international law generally, as well as on specific histories of the law of armed conflict and the law of the sea. His most recent work has concerned the historical connections between territory and property as legal spatial practices. He is currently working on a more theoretical approach to the same question of connecting territory and property.

In May 2016, in collaboration with IILAH's Cait Storr, Henry organised a workshop on International Law and Geography, co-hosted with Durham's IBRU: Centre for Borders Research. This visit to Melbourne is to continue to build upon that collaboration. His visit is funded through Melbourne Law School's International Research Visitor Scheme.