P. T. Babie – författare

This book explores the nature of liberal property in the twenty-first century. It contains three parts. The first examines how we have arrived at the liberal concept of property—what many scholars call the ''bundle of rights'' metaphor of property. This part argues that the liberal conception embodied in the bundle of rights metaphor is really a way of masking or hiding what property really is: an exercise of ego about the way goods and resources are used. Or, put another way, it enshrines the ability to suit personal preferences about the way things are used, rather than what might better serve the common good. The second part provides an important modern critique of the bundle of rights metaphor—that, in addition to being a collection of rights, property is also about social relations that exist between people. Through these social relations, which are contained in law, any decision that a person makes about how to use a good or resource necessarily carries implications for others. While those effects can be both positive and negative, we are much more familiar with the latter, including most of the global challenges we face today—climate change, extreme weather, global hunger, and global poverty. Taking those global challenges as its focus, the final part of the book suggests possible futures of property in which it is reconceived in ways that reduce the potential for negative impacts on others.

This book constitutes the second volume of ''Religion Matters: The Contemporary Relevance of Religion'' (Springer, 2020). Offering a fresh and much-needed perspective, it explores the role of religion in the modern, neo-liberal world. The book acclaims that ''religion'' is a contextual and contested term, which is extensively discussed in the Introduction.

Designed to be read selectively, this book allows readers to delve into topics and traditions of specific interest without the necessity of reading the entire volume. In contrast to volume 1, where contributors critically engaged with religion and various disciplines, this book poses a fundamental question: Can religion contribute to the discipline under consideration?

Authors were selected based on their ability to address this question. Some chapters concluded that religion may offer very little to the discipline under consideration, highlighting the value of volume 1''s critical stance on the place of religion incontemporary society. However, the project''s overall aim remained somewhat unfulfilled, leading to the creation of this second volume.

The primary omission from the first book was a comprehensive exploration of the sciences and health sciences, which this second volume aims to rectify. Furthermore, additional authors were chosen to investigate the nature of connectedness facilitated by religion, horizontally through membership within wider communities, societies, cultures, or religious traditions, and vertically by examining historical relationships within a particular faith tradition, culture, community, or society. This volume also broadens its focus to include non-Christian perspectives, Indigenous perspectives, and an increased representation of female contributors.