The SFB short film:

About property in transition and the work of the SFB.

This film is the work of Catharina Göldner and Katharina Hamann.

The members of the Collaborative Research Centre in summer 2023

Image: Marlen van den Ecker

Welcome to the website of the Collaborative Research Centre TRR 294 "Structural Change of Property"!

The Collaborative Research Centre pursues the goal of investigating the fundamental structural change of property that could be observed at the latest since 1989. The Collaborative Research Centre contains a total of 23 subprojects at eight locations in Germany: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena (Sprecher*innenhochschule), Universität Erfurt, Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Technische Universität Berlin, Leibniz-Institute for Research on Society and Space, Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Technische Universität Darmstadt.

While private property has gained in importance worldwide since 1989 under conditions of increasing concentration and deregulation, the resulting property system has proved to be both crisis-prone and highly controversial in the face of new economic, political and technological challenges. It isn't challenged only by the global financial and economic crises, but also by political conflicts over the appropriation, distribution and containment of private property, as well as by the dynamics of the knowledge and bio-economies, which are linked to alternative concepts of common property, shared use and free access to resources.

News

New blog post online!

In his blog post "Making sense of land values" Alexander Dobeson examines land as an asset. Drawing on the situation in Copenhagen, where he lives and work, he explores the question of how the value of land is created.

Workshop on Socialization. Democratization of the economy?

With the participation of SFB members Tilo Wesche and Niklas Angebauer, a workshop on socialization will take place in Tutzing from May 15 to 17. From housing, land, and energy to healthcare and digital platforms: Could socialization enable a fair, democratic, and sustainable reappropriation of our living conditions? What concrete forms are conceivable, what decolonial perspectives need to be considered, and what needs to be critically discussed in this context? What could a democratic property policy for the 21st century look like?
 

More information and the program here

Stefan Schmalz on the works council elections at Tesla

In a Spiegel article on the campaign for the works council elections at Tesla, Stefan Schmalz, who has been researching labour relations at the Tesla plant since last year, shares his views. He laments the unequal opportunities in the elections and criticises the current functioning of the works council, which he says acts primarily in the interests of management. 

Click here for the article (paywall)

New Source of the Quarter

The source selected by Dirk Schuck describes the consumer behavior of Scottish maids in the 18th century. The consumption of small personal items, such as necklaces, had surprising consequences for the women's self-image and their relationship with the world.

Read the Source of the Quarter

New publication!

Yann Schosser and Sebastian Bandelin have published a new volume in the series ‘Structural Change in Property Ownership.’ In ‘Kant's Critique of Property Ownership: Relevance and Perspectives in the Wake of Ethical Socialism,’ they examine Kant's concept of property ownership and draw on now largely unknown socialist interpretations of Kant. 

Click here for the boock (open access)

"Marx, Machines and the Beginning of the End"

As a guest on Radio F.R.E.I., Carsten Hermann-Pillath discusses Marx's machine fragment, artificial intelligence, and the concept of intellectual property. Does AI pose a challenge to capitalism, and can the market economy function entirely without exploitation?

To the programme
To the News archive...

Events

Universität Erfurt; Erfurt

Guest Lecture

Prof. Robert Adelman (University of Buffalo) will give a lecture on "International Migration, Gentrification, and Neighborhood Change: Insights from Buffalo’s Refugee and Immigrant Communities".

read more...
Kino am Markt; Jena

Movie series "Property in view"

On April 14, we will show the documentary Patrol (NIC 2023).

read more...
Friedrich-Schiller-Universität; Jena

Antifaschistische Medien- und Kommunikationswissenschaft

The 6th Annual Conference of the Critical Communication Studies Network on the topic of “Antifascist Media and Communication Studies” will take place from April 16–18, 2026, in Jena. The two keynote speakers will be Vanessa E. Thompson (Queens University, Canada) and Alex Demirović (Goethe University Frankfurt/Humboldt Universität zu Berlin). 

visit page
Stadtlab; Jena

The Social Ecology of Capitalist Property Relations

On April 16, 2026, at 6:00 p.m., Éric Pineault, professor at the Université du Québec à Montréal, will give a public lecture on “The Social Ecology of Capitalist Property Relations” at StabLab Jena (Markt 1, 07743 Jena) as part of our semester opening. His lecture will focus on theoretical considerations regarding the lock-in effects of fixed assets against the backdrop of a comprehensive social ecology of capital, as analyzed in his book, which was recently published in German.

Free admission; no registration required

To the complete schedule of dates...

An overview of the most important events of the Collaborative Research Center is available here.