Short Abstract:

In the context of intensified asset accumulation and 'rentier economies', this panel aims to explore how diverse actors across the globe engage with the rush to secure familiar and novel forms of property and the significance of property acquisition as a temporal practice.

Long Abstract:

Across the globe, the acquisition and monopolisation of property has become central to dynamics of capitalism - what Brett Christophers has described as a 'rentier economy', the generation of profit from precious assets by wealthy companies and individuals. In times of crisis, amidst growing anxiety about scarcity, the rush for exclusive ownership of assets and resources has intensified. Whilst the UK's post-pandemic housing market has been called a 'race for space', in eastern Africa Kenyans speak of a 'gold rush' on land. The rush is not the domain of the elite alone; ordinary people, sometimes propelled by anxieties about elite accumulation, are among those scrambling to 'muscle in' on rentier economies, acquiring and investing in property as a practice of speculation. This panel will explore how diverse actors across the globe collectively and individually engage with the rush to secure exclusive ownership of familiar as well as novel forms of property, including from what has traditionally been considered commons. In particular, we invite submissions that consider the significance of property acquisition and maintenance as a temporal practice which involves judgements about time, including the timing of the acquisition itself, as well as being inherently future-oriented. Whilst property often remains central to aspirations for long-term security and permanence, the panel aims to direct further attention to the acquisition and maintenance of property as an uncertain and open temporal horizon and its transformational effects on livelihoods, identities and social relations.