Summary:

Rolf Steppacher explores the perspective of Heinsohn and Steiger's property approach by asking what happens to natural resources and ecological degradation when property rights are globalised; that is, when they are also introduced in underdeveloped countries. The author emphasises that property rights are not simply favourable to economic development. It must also be considered that they might destroy the possession of natural resources on which many underdeveloped nations base their material reproduction. Furthermore, property rights might increase the speed of ecological degradation. Therefore, they must be introduced step by step to avoid the danger of destroying the social and ecological safety net of possession-based regimes.