Abstract

’Epistemologies of Land’ Webcast Series – Leo Steeds – 26 May 2021 | 15:00-17:00

Abstract: The ‘Epistemologies of Land’ webcast series will host international experts for discussions on the epistemology of land, ahead of a related publication which will highlight the role of the land on, and with which, human relations are enacted and how this land affects the knowledge that is generated and brought to use in social relations. The events are open to interested graduate and postgraduate researchers.

Speaker: Leo Steeds successfully defended his PhD at an examination held at the University of Warwick in January 2020. His doctoral programme was funded by an ESRC Doctoral Training Centre studentship.

His thesis was entitled, ‘Earth, Property, Territory: The Birth of an Economic Concept of Land’, focusing on they way that, in recent years, responses to a broad range of environmental issues, from climate change to conservation, have frequently been phrased in terms of the need to create markets for environmental ‘goods’. Such schemes, heralding from the tradition of neoclassical economics, have frequently been shown to be problematic when put into practice.

Leo’s research seeks to offer a critique of market-based approaches to environmental degradation by questioning the historical conditions of possibility of conceptualising the natural world as external to the sphere of economy. To do this, he interrogates economic thought of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries in order to understand the conceptions of nature which informed the development of the modern notion of economy.

He is particularly interested in the significance of land as a central category in eighteenth century economic thought, and its subsequent decline as a concern of economists through the nineteenth century. The research highlights the problematic nature of conceiving environment in terms of economy, and points to a need to re-think conventional notions of the market economy if we are to make progress on the most pressing environmental issues of today.

Attendance is free but spaces may be limited, so please email to reserve a space in the Zoom audience. Please be aware that we will take a recording of this event, which may include any questions and responses delivered by the audience.

See the full webcast series online here

gloknos is initially funded for 5 years by the European Research Council through a Consolidator Grant awarded to Dr Inanna Hamati-Ataya for her project ARTEFACT (2017-2022) ERC grant no. 724451.