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Property and privatisation in RoboCop

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 February 2009

Michael Robertson
Michael Robertson*
Affiliation:
University of Otago
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Abstract

The 1987 film RoboCop is not just a science fiction action story; it is also a critique of the neoliberal resurgence in law and politics at the end of the twentieth century. In particular it critiques the privatisation of police services, and the expansion of private property claims to cover a cyborg policeman, notwithstanding its human components. I connect the critique in the film with the broader academic literature dealing with the privatisation of police forces and the expansion of private property claims, particularly copyright and patents. Finally, I consider whether, as a result of the neoliberal expansion of private property rights over the last few decades, the law could now justify a private property claim over a cyborg like the one in the film.

Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Law in Context , Volume 4 , Issue 3 , September 2008 , pp. 217 - 235
Copyright
Cambridge University Press 2009

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