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# 11

Who can own nature? And other questions of belonging...

But who really owns land and nature? Humans have no more self-evident rights than grass, trees, and squirrels, not to speak of fungi and bacteria. Property, the conceit that state-backed human social relations give us absolute rights over things, does not go far in the realms of land and nature, where people can never fully be in charge. 

What people can share is not absolute rights over land and nature but the knowledge, affect, and social relations involved in living with them. 

Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing, Empire’s salvage heart: Why diversity matters in the global political economy, 2012
Invitations to contemplate these words and play with your thoughts
  • What captured our attention
  • What if “Nature” does not exist
  • What if we acknowledge our relations with every entity
  • What if we invent an ecosystemic economy
  • What do you think?
  • Where does Europe begin and Where does Europe end
Collections that include this source
  • Imagine an Ecosystemic Europe
  • Imagine an Altereurope
Keep exploring
  • Cross Idea
  • Well, where does the Danube has its origin?  It seems that, against the age-old controversies between specialists, it stems from the source of the river Breg, but the water that irrigates the meadow from which the Breg rises comes from a pipe, planted straight into the ground.  An old woman who l …
  • Giovanni Ambrosio. Ius Soli. Chapter one: waiting, passing, redemption. Soils: Tessuto non tessuto. 2018-

Cross Idea

For centuries, the struggle for equality has focused primarily on relations among human beings. Here, the question of equality is extended to include nature and matter. The perspectives look at the question from different perspectives, yet, the view of extraction—whether of raw materials or data—as a form of theft, and the one that challenges the ownership of land and natural resources, complement each other. Both positions advocate for recognizing nature and matter as entities with their own rights and emphasize the need for equity.

Moreover, it is not just a claim for an extension of rights: These perspectives do more than that; the example of extractivism demonstrates that equality among humans is interconnected with our treatment of nature. Achieving equality with nature and matter requires us to consider the needs of those with whom we interact and this is also a valid issue in our relations with humans. This approach to equality can thus, in turn, foster greater equality among humans.

Do we live in an economy of theft?

of our Imagination