On Brenna Bhandar's ‘Colonial Lives of Property’

The coming years That Might Be Right will study what is called primitive accumulation; the historical and continuous expropriation of people from common land, resources and relations. This semester we will read Colonial Lives of Property by Brenna Bhandar in which she examines how modern property law contributes to the formation of racial subjects in settler colonies and to the development of racial capitalism.  The sessions are not an endeavour of specialists or insiders, everybody brings the knowledge and experience they have to the table and we will work towards a shared, although not necessarily consensual, understanding of the topic. It is advised to read the chapters of each session beforehand, in order for us to discuss and reread parts of the chapter together during the session. The book is in English, English will be the main language of conversation but open to contribute in other languages.   Concept: That Might Be Right  Design: D-E-A-L and Sophia Holst  Moderators: Introduction | Rob Ritzen (Curators Studio)  Chapter 1 – USE | Line Algoed (Cosmopolis) Chapter 2 – PROPERTIED ABSTRACTIONS | tbc Chapter 3 – IMPROVEMENT | Eitan Bronstein Aparicio (De-Colonizer) Chapter 4 – STATUS | Marc Woons (RIPPLE) tbc Conclusion | Brenna Bhandar (SOAS) tbc   Photo: Fazal Sheikh