A Theory of Access*
2003/06/01 by Jesse C. Ribot, Jesse Ribot, Nancy Lee Peluso · 2,255 citations
Engineering · Environmental Science · Social Sciences · #Bundle of rights #Computer science #Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management #Economics #Epistemology #Framing (construction) #Geography #Human rights #Law #Law and economics #Microeconomics #Mining and Resource Management #Political science #Property (philosophy) #Property rights #Set (abstract data type) #Sociology #Water Governance and Infrastructure
paper · doi:10.1111/j.1549-0831.2003.tb00133.x
published in Rural Sociology 68(2), 153-181 (Wiley)
openalex publication_date 2003/06/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06
Abstract
Abstract The term “access” is frequently used by property and natural resource analysts without adequate definition. In this paper we develop a concept of access and examine a broad set of factors that differentiate access from property. We define access as “the ability to derive benefits from things,” broadening from property's classical definition as “the right to benefit from things.” Access, following this definition, is more akin to “a bundle of powers” than to property's notion of a “bundle of rights.” This formulation includes a wider range of social relationships that constrain or enable benefits from resource use than property relations alone. Using this framing, we suggest a method of access analysis for identifying the constellations of means, relations, and processes that enable various actors to derive benefits from resources. Our intent is to enable scholars, planners, and policy makers to empirically “map” dynamic processes and relationships of access.
Citations
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