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Geographies of (long-term) land ownership

Land is an economic key asset and the basis for follow-up investments (Löhr 2013). In this sense, land is not just fictitious capital (Marx/Harvey) or commodity (Polanyi). Furthermore, it incorporates the capacity of (future) value creation (Christophers 2016) and, in a more general sense, the capacity to act. Such a perspective on land brings into focus how (long-term) land ownership – as an objectified expression of (historical) social relations – shapes possible combinations of social relations within a specific spatio-temporal framework. Besides doing research on marketization and financialization of land, it is necessary to develop a broader understanding of the political economy and the geographies of (long-term) land ownership.

Beyond analytical considerations, land ownership is an important empirical and political field. Through austerity policies and neo-liberalization, the state lost its importance and legitimacy as landowner in most Western societies. This goes hand in hand with the global expansion and normalization of an understanding of land ownership that is primarily characterized as private (Blomley 2003). Consequently, the not-so-new question of social and sustainable access to land is more urgent than ever.

Aim of the paper session is to discuss theoretical and empirical contributions on (long-term) land ownership in current social formations, which cover the following and related issues:

• How can (long-term) land ownership be approached empirically/conceptually as an objectified expression of social relations or as political strategy?
• What is the future role of public property and the state as land owner?
  
• How, for example, do aristocratic/bourgeois trusts or foundations and churches use land ownership to shape economic/social geographies?
  
• What (historical) forms of (collective) long-term land ownership challenge private land ownership and the economic integration of land in the Global North and South?