Collective ownership

Collective ownership is the ownership of private property by all members of a group.^{[1][2][nb 1]} The breadth or narrowness of the group can range from a whole society to a set of coworkers in a particular enterprise (such as one collective farm). In the latter narrower sense, collective ownership is distinguished from common ownership and the commons, which implies open access, the holding of assets in common, and the negation of ownership as such. Collective ownership of the means of production is the defining characteristic of socialism,^[3] where collective ownership can refer to society-wide ownership (social ownership) or to cooperative ownership by an organization's members. When contrasted with public ownership, collective ownership commonly refers to group ownership (such as a producer cooperative).^[4]

See also

• Condominium
• Employee stock ownership
• Market socialism
• Mutualization
• Personal property
• Possession (law)
• Worker cooperative
• Workers' self-management

Notes

1. The private property definition (for example that of a legal designation for the ownership of property by non-governmental legal entities) may not correspond to its colloquial usage in socialist contexts, where there is a distinction between personal property and private property (the means of production). Personal property, also called possession, includes items intended for personal use (e.g. one's toothbrush, clothes, homes, vehicles, and sometimes money). It must be gained in a socially fair manner and the owner has a distributive right to exclude others (e.g. the right to command a fair share of personal property). Marxist socialists argue that private property is a social relation between the owner and persons deprived (not a relationship between person and thing), e.g. artifacts, factories, mines, dams, infrastructure, natural vegetation, mountains, deserts, and seas—these generate capital for the owner without the owner necessarily having to perform any physical labor. Conversely, those who perform labor using somebody else's private property are considered deprived of the value of their work in Marxist theory, and are instead given a salary that is disjointed from the value generated by the worker. In this context, private property and ownership means ownership of the means of production, not personal possessions. To socialists, including anarchists, private property refers to capital or the means of production while personal property refers to non-capital and consumer goods and services.
   For the anarchist view, see:

   • McKay, Iain, ed. (2008). "Why are anarchists against private property? – What is the difference between private property and possession?". An Anarchist FAQ. Edinburgh: AK Press. ISBN 978-1-84935-122-5. Archived from the original on February 27, 2020.

   For the broad socialist view, see:

   • Sunkara, Bhaskar (February 13, 2016). "End Private Property, Not Kenny Loggins". Jacobin. Retrieved December 31, 2024.

   For the Marxist view, see:

   • Guy-Evans, Olivia (February 13, 2024). "Marx's Theory of Alienation In Sociology". Simply Psychology. Retrieved December 31, 2024.