GEOG4127: UNDERSTANDING LAND CONFLICTS

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• Develop an advanced understanding of the distinct theoretical and conceptual lenses through which struggles over land have been understood in geography and related disciplines
• Through concrete case studies, develop capacities to critically analyse the role of land conflicts within processes of social, political and environmental change
• Develop an advanced understanding of how colonial histories of dispossession shape the dynamics of contemporary struggles over land in settler and postcolonial contexts
• Develop an advanced understanding of how global processes of capitalist accumulation shape contemporary land conflicts and how land is assembled as a resource for global investment
• Gain the ability to appreciate and critically analyse the diverse meanings, affordances, ontologies and practices of land proposed by social actors in the Global North and South
• Gain an advanced understanding of key concepts in agrarian political economy, postcolonial and settler colonial studies, and critical legal geography, and how they can be applied to specific land conflicts

• Throughout the world, societies are shaped by struggles over the control of, access to and use of land. Land conflicts are not just about who owns land but raise deeper questions about what land is. Different actors may view land as a commodity to be bought and sold, as private property, as a source of livelihood, as an ancestral territory, or as an assemblage of more-than-human relations constituting a unique life-world.
• For most of the worlds inhabitants, struggles around land are intimately connected to histories of colonial dispossession, which inform both unequal geographies of land control and ideas about what land is for and who has rights to it. Contemporary processes of capitalist accumulation produce new kinds of land conflicts from large-scale land grabs, to everyday forms of enclosure, to the appropriation of land for energy development. Meanwhile, global concerns around climate change and biodiversity loss combined with local processes of counter-mapping are fueling efforts to promote indigenous and community land rights. Beyond these broader trends, understanding land conflicts involves attention to how ordinary people make claims to land, in ways that mobilise diverse understandings of rights and citizenship.
• In this module, concrete case studies of land conflicts will be used to explore and apply a variety of conceptual and theoretical approaches from agrarian political economy, critical legal geography, and postcolonial and settler colonial studies. Concepts explored may include: enclosure and alienation, frontiers and territorialisation, land grabbing, racial regimes of ownership, gender and land rights, property and performance, and competing ontologies of land.
• Key questions we will ask include:
• How do legacies of colonialism shape contemporary land conflicts?
• How do processes of capitalist accumulation shape the dynamics of land conflicts?
• What role does land play in decolonisation?
• What distinct ontologies of land are proposed and practised by different social actors?
• How do land conflicts reflect and shape broader struggles over citizenship and state-formation?

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• On successful completion of this module, students will be able to
• Gain an advanced understanding of the key drivers and dynamics of contemporary land conflicts in the Global North and South
• Develop an advanced understanding of a range of interdisciplinary conceptual and theoretical perspectives around land and be able to apply these to specific examples of land conflict
• Demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of the growing literature on land within geography and related disciplines

Subject-specific Skills:

• On successful completion of the module students will be able to:
• Think critically about land from multiple theoretical and cultural perspectives
• Apply theoretical concepts around land to complex real-life case studies
• Identify ways in which an interdisciplinary approach to the topic may yield fresh insights

Key Skills:

• On successful completion of the module students will be able to:
• Demonstrate advanced written communication skills
• Demonstrate a capacity to reflect critically and creatively on the relations between concepts and a range of real world problems and issues
• Demonstrate the ability to synthesise texts and articulate ideas through class discussion

• Teaching will be delivered in a combination of workshops and seminars:
• a) 7 Thematic Workshops (S) will use a flipped classroom methodology comprising of:
• Small group discussion of key readings (50m). Instructions for preparation will be provided and will include writing a response to key readings on your personal Land Blog (see Assessment)
• Interactive lectures (50m, with L3s), which will combine lecturer feedback on group comments and questions with mini-lectures on key concepts, debates and examples.
• b) 2 Seminars (S) will be used to discuss ideas from the workshops, answer questions and provide guidance on essay development.
• Formative assessment
• Formative assessment (annotated essay plan) will allow tailored, individual feedback on a) the integration of theoretical and substantive literatures; b) the types of material to be used in the essay and c) styles of essay presentation. Feedback will be individual via written feedback on an annotated essay plan.
• In addition, two Peer Feedback Meetings (A) will be held to provide formative peer feedback on essay development. In the first meeting, you will discuss preliminary ideas for the essay. In the second, you will give and receive formative peer feedback on essay plans. Detailed guidance on essay planning and giving peer feedback will be provided.
• Summative assessment
• a) Essay (70%) - You will write a 4,000-word essay providing a conceptually grounded analysis of a specific land conflict . The essay will integrate ideas and concepts from lectures and readings with materials gathered by the student through research of secondary literature.
• b) Land Blog (30%) - In preparation for each Thematic Workshop, you will write a paragraph responding to the readings on your personal Land Blog. After the Workshop, you will write another paragraph noting how your ideas changed. Specific assessment criteria for the blog will be provided.

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