Prof. Sanjoy Chakravorty, Temple University, USA
28 August, 2018, Bengaluru: The Office of Research and Publications (R&P) at IIM Bangalore hosted a research seminar titled, ‘Who’s Afraid of Land Commodification?’, on August 22 (Wednesday), 2018, on campus. The talk was delivered by Professor Sanjoy Chakravorty, Temple University, USA.
Offering an overview of land commodification in India, Prof. Chakravorty discussed ‘primitive accumulation of land’, and questioned the suitability of ‘enclosure’ for interpreting land grabs.
Emphasizing the significance of global commodification and price, he explained various topographic graphs and mentioned the differences in the listed price and take away price of the properties in India.
Explaining how land inequality in India is widespread, he touched upon subjects like land pooling. “Each one of us is affected by land commodification and land has attained scientific importance. Land is a commodity in India. The people who should be afraid of land commodification are the people who do not have land, while the people who are paying attention to land commodification are the people who have land,” he said.
Prof. Sanjoy Chakravorty delivers a talk on “Who’s Afraid of Land Commodification?” at IIMB
He also stated how land commodification affected different states in India and land markets through various demographics showing annual per capita charts. He explained how agricultural land in India is severely scarce and said it is the root cause of poverty in India, with very less land being available for agricultural households. A final section charted the theoretical and historical contours of this global genealogy and arrived at a more capacious reconceptualization of primitive accumulation.
Inviting questions from the audience, Prof. Chakravorty concluded by reflecting on the implications of contemporary land grabs on in-site displacement, the fungibility of land, and new enclosures in the contemporary reconfiguration of global value chains.
Sanjay Chakravorty is Professor of Geography and Urban Studies at Temple University and Visiting Fellow at the Center for the Advanced Study of India at University of Pennsylvania. Prof. Chakravorty is one of the leading global authorities on the topic of land acquisition in India. His current research focuses on India, cities, inequality, and epistemology.
