Rethinking Property: Drive Theory, Fanon, and Environmental Philosophy

In this eye-opening study at the intersection of psychoanalytic theory and political organization and thought, Elliott Schwebach explores why property can be understood to be oppressive and how political theory overlooks its unique significance as a pillar of social violence.

Synthesizing insights from Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Sigmund Freud, Ives Hendrick, and Frantz Fanon, Schwebach investigates human activity as shaped by the effects of property regimes and traces broader implications for understanding the legacies of colonial domination. He then shifts focus to contemporary eco-theory, challenging the Lockeanism that continues to characterize premodern Indigenous environmental engagements and presenting novel frameworks for understanding healthy ecopolitical activity based upon the trajectories of psychological drives.

This unique perspective validates creative expressions of decolonial resistance and offers fruitful alternatives to customary positions in psychoanalytic and environmental political philosophy. The book will be an indispensable resource for scholars of property, Freudian psychology, political ecology, and the visionary thought of Frantz Fanon.

Elliott Schwebach completed his PhD in Spring 2022 and has served as a lecturer, consultant, and occasional retail associate since. Currently, he is working with the Washington State Bar Association as an Equity and Justice Lead and taking a welcome break from moonlighting. After 5pm, you might find him at a kava bar, browsing poetry in used bookstores, or taking a walk through city streets.