Property and Trusts: A Modern Project to Create Individual and Collective Personae

Abstract

The concept of trusts, absent from the classical writings of Marx and Weber on capitalism, was introduced by Frederic Maitland and John Locke as an explanatory framework for the central institutions of capitalism. While these two theorists offered compelling arguments, they relied on intuition and utilized the concept primarily to justify the existing social structure. This paper aims to bring analytical rigor to this intuitive theory and proposes that critical theory embraces the idea of trusts as a critical conceptual tool to unravel the nature of capitalist institutions. Examining limited liability corporations, the modern state, and public debt, the incorporation of trusts into critical theory provides key advantages. First, it facilitates analyzing capitalist institutions in terms of rights and responsibilities, unveiling moral dynamics. Second, it highlights the role of personhood in distributing rights and responsibilities. Third, it can help understand why modern society is ensnared by the shackles of debt.