OWNERSHIP RIGHTS AND THE RITES OF OWNERSHIP

Using condominium owner and landowner narratives about their property, I consider how people answer the question, What does it mean to own s omething? These property narratives are framed around three sets of so cial practices, myths, and beliefs which-I call rites of identity, rit es of settlement, and rites of struggle-the rites of ownership. Accord ing to these narratives, ownership requires that the person possessing the property carry out these rites. Their sense of entitlement-owners hip rights-is framed by these rites. Following the rites makes one a d eserving property owner. Property rights are seen as protectors agains t arbitrary, unpredictable changes in status that violate these owners ' sense that they are entitled to keep what they had worked so hard fo r and planned for so long. I conclude with a discussion of the value o f property narratives for understanding the link between law and cultu re.