Private landownership, the appropriation of ground rent, or the subordination of land use to economic imperatives, amongst others, are increasingly being contested by a wide range of actors, from state institutions to civil society initiatives and social movements. This workshop explores how contestations of (urban and agrarian) land are articulated, institutionalized, and embedded in wider relations of forces across different contexts.
Nächstes Datum:
| Leibniz-Institut für Raumbezogene Sozialforschung; Erkner
| Workshop
Contesting Land: Property, Law, and Hegemony
Contesting Land: Property, Law, and Hegemony
The workshop creates a space for researchers to discuss their ongoing research on the topic, by presenting paper drafts, research ideas, preliminary findings etc.
We are particularly interested in the following key dimensions of land contestations:
Contestation: How can we conceptualize land contestations to capture a broad spectrum of (state and non-state) practices of disputing, questioning, and challenging existing land regimes, ranging from organized forms (e.g. social movements), to more dispersed, small-scale, and localized practices? What distinguishes different forms of contestation, and how do they relate to one another across scales and contexts?
Property: How, if at all, do land contestations challenge existing regimes of private property? What is the scope of their critiques? Do land contestations target the broader private property order as such or specific aspects of private property? And what underlying conceptions of property (Eigentumsverständnisse) inform these struggles?
Law: What role does law play in land contestations? To what extent do actors strategically mobilize legal instruments to pursue their goals, and with what effects? What limitations and contradictions arise from engaging with the law? How do specific legal and institutional contexts shape the possibilities and forms of legal mobilization?
Hegemony: Land contestations are embedded in broader relations of power and domination. We are interested in the actors involved, their interests, class positions, and strategies, particularly in relation to accessing and influencing the (local) state (and decision-making processes regarding land policies and land laws). How do hegemonic actors respond to land contestations? And how does the state mediate between these competing social forces and interests?
The workshop offers the opportunity to discuss ongoing work with a small group of scholars in the field. It takes place over two days in Erkner, near Berlin. During these two days, there will be time for individual presentations as well as extended panel discussions.
Date: 3rd to 4th December, 2026
Place: Leibniz-Institut für Raumbezogene Sozialforschung, Erkner (near Berlin)
The workshop is organized by Michael Schwind and Lisa Vollmer. The workshop is part of the DFG Collaborative Research Centre “Structural Change of Property” and the sub-project “Contestation over Property Regimes and Housing: (Un)doing Commodified Urban Land Ownership in India and Germany”. You can find more information about the project here.
Contact: michael.schwind@leibniz-irs.de