The Social Lives of Land

by Michael R. Goldman

First published 2024

Michael Goldman, Nancy Lee Peluso, and Wendy Wolford gather researchers from multiple fields to examine how communities interact with their territories. The collection spans continents, from Cherokee Nation homeland creation to Cambodia's sand shipments that support Singapore's urban growth. Contributors present original research covering Mozambique, India, Indonesia, Ecuador, and colonial America. They focus on real experiences of people losing and reclaiming land in both rural and urban settings. The scholars uncover buried histories and retell familiar stories through the lens of those who actually live on and work the ground. Their work reveals the hidden forces driving modern social and political transformation. The book offers readers fresh insights into how land shapes human relationships and how people reshape their relationship with place.

Genres: social-science, sociology, anthropology, non-fiction, academic, cultural-studies

Vibes: informative, intimate, thought-provoking

Tropes: buried-histories, real-experiences, retold-stories

Setting: Cherokee Nation, Cambodia, Singapore, Mozambique, India, Indonesia, Ecuador, Colonial America

Period: Modern

396 pages · Hardcover · Cornell University Press

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