Land imaginations: the repositioning of farming, productivity, and sovereignty in Australia

Basic data for this project

Description

Land is multidimensional. It symbolizes community, memory, heritage, and identity as well as conquest, dispossession, and expulsion. Land is productive and is thus directly linked to our survival. The way in which land is being imagined has direct consequences for social cooperation and cohesion. This research project addresses the diverse imaginations of land through the lens of Australia's increasing agricultural ties to the Arab Gulf States and China along with the interests related to food security, food safety, and storage of value. Whether considered as the “last frontier” in the rush for finite resources, a financial asset class, or a cornerstone of identity – each imagination of land carries with it particular ideas and visions about the future of agriculture and food as well as concepts of justice and the “good life”. The project focuses on these imaginations in their tangible meanings and implications.