6 research outputs found
Smoke, curtains and mirrors: the production of race through time and title registration
This article analyses the temporal effects of title registration and their relationship to race. It traces the move away from the retrospection of pre-registry common law conveyancing and toward the dynamic, future-oriented Torrens title registration system. The Torrens system, developed in early colonial Australia, enabled the production of âcleanâ, fresh titles that were independent of their predecessors. Through a process praised by legal commentators for âcuringâ titles of their pasts, this system produces indefeasible titles behind its distinctive âcurtainâ and âmirrorâ, which function similarly to magiciansâ smoke and mirrors by blocking particular realities from view. In the case of title registries, those realities are particular histories of and relationships with land, which will not be protected by property law and are thus made precarious. Building on interdisciplinary work which theorises time as a social tool, I argue that Torrens title registration produces a temporal order which enables land market coordination by rendering some relationships with land temporary and making others indefeasible. This ordering of relationships with land in turn has consequences for the human subjects who have those relationships, cutting futures short for some and guaranteeing permanence to others. Engaging with Renisa Mawani and other critical race theorists, I argue that the categories produced by Torrens title registration systems materialise as race
Unsettling planning's paradigms: towards a just accommodation of Indigenous rights and interests in Australian urban planning?
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and Natural Law
In Natural Law and Natural Rights, John Finnis delves into the past, attempting to revitalise the Thomist natural law tradition cut short by opposing philosophers such as David Hume. In this article, Finnisâs efforts at revival are assessed by way of comparison withâand, indeed, contrast toâthe life and art of musician David Bowie. In spite of their extravagant differences, there exist significant points of connection that allow Bowie to be used in interpreting Finnisâs natural law. Bowieâs workâfor all its appeals to a Nietzschean ground zero for normative valuesâshares Finnisâs concern with ordering affairs in a way that will realise humanityâs great potential. In presenting enchanted worlds and evolved characters as an antidote to all that is drab and pointless, Bowie has something to tell his audience about how human beings can thrive. Likewise, natural law holds that a legal system should include certain content that guides people towards a life of âflourishingâ. Bowie and Finnis look to the past, plundering it for inspiration and using it as fuel to boost humankind forward. The analogy of Natural Law and Natural Rights and Bowieâs magpie-like relationship to various popular music traditions ultimately reveals that natural law theory is not merely an objective and unchanging edict to be followed without question, but a legacy that is to be recreated by those who carry it into the future. Lawâs instruments of critique must not forget these transformative qualities.Arts, Education & Law Group, School of LawFull Tex