Introduction

Abstract

"Identity and property are closely related terms. Identity as the quality of being the same, of being absolutely one, hides the ambiguity of property, of having unchangeable properties as one’s absolute property, and of thus being proper. The economy of property, its management, is ethically marked as “proper,” as appropriate. It positions any disturbance of identity as improper, as a lack of proper properties which translates itself into a deficiency, a disturbance of normality, a “neither-this-nor-that.” The present volume is about the “neither-this-nor-that,” it problematises both identity and property as positive categories by way of slightly de-domesticating them, de-economising them as absolute terms, by way of showing how they feed upon their negatives in order to secure their seemingly unquestionable positions." (fragm.)