Possession vis-a-vis power : rent theory, global mining and modern landed property in Australia 1861-2014

Abstract

The purpose of this dissertation is to establish a historically specific theory of landed property in Australia that can serve as the foundation for a socially significant theory of mineral-rent. This task is necessary because the orthodox theory of rent is unable to explain effectively the formation and distribution of mineral-rents. This failure of the orthodoxy not only obscures clear understanding of the social significance of rent but also retards the rational organisation of the minerals industry. It is therefore imperative that the theory of rent is critically examined. This critical reappraisal of economic theory will be conducted in relation to the operations and consequences of the global mining industry within Australia in the contemporary period. The aim of this analysis is to illuminate the dynamics of capital accumulation that underpinned debates around the ill-fated Australian 'mining tax'. It is argued that these parliamentary-political machinations were a phenomenal manifestation of an essential contradiction of the capitalist mode of production. As landed property conditions the formation and distribution of mineral-rents, the question becomes one of how to identify the character and function of modern landed property in relation to the dynamics of capital accumulation. This research contributes to debates within the fields of Marxist rent theory, the political economy of Australian capitalism and the theorisation of landed property. The methodology employed throughout the analysis can be characterised as a generative class analysis in the tradition of the materialist conception of history utilising dialectical reasoning. The analysis is organised according to three distinct yet connected parts. The first part establishes the case for a new theory of mineral-rent by critiquing the prevailing orthodoxy in rent theory. The second part demonstrates the need for a theory of landed property as a necessary precondition for a new, socially significant, theory of mineral-rent. The third part elaborates a historically specific theory of landed property in Australia in relation to the dynamics of capital accumulation. The dissertation concludes by reiterating the core thesis, comprised of three interconnected claims: orthodox rent theory is incapable of explicating the social signification of rental payments for the use of mineral lands; a new theory of mineral-rent necessarily requires a theory of landed property in relation to the dynamics of capital accumulation; the modern form of landed property in Australia is denoted by the separation of ownership and control functions.

Date of Award	2016
Original language	English