from November 4–6, 2026, the annual conference "Problematic Objects of Property - Form, Materiality, Politics", organized by the Collaborative Research Center (CRC) "Structural Change of Property", will take place and we would like to cordially invite you to join us in Jena. We are delighted to welcome political scientist Timothy Mitchell, legal scholar K-Sue Park, and historian Quinn Slobodian as keynote speakers. The final program will be available on our website in late May. It promises to be an exciting conference with many international guests, so be sure to save the date.
With this newsletter we would also like to draw your attention to other events of the CRC as well as recently published works, and our new dossier, "Alternatives to Private Property", which features a collection of academic articles, podcast episodes, and blog posts from the CRC and can be found in our New Library of Property. 

The CRC’s new dossier brings together articles that examine alternatives to private property from various perspectives. In their texts, the researchers discuss both the potential and the failures of specific alternative models. The spectrum ranges from the commons and cooperatives to municipal infrastructures. Socialist and non-Western conceptions of property are also discussed.

The dossier can be read here on the CRC's website.

In the latest episode of our podcast, Silke van Dyk offers insights into the key findings from the CRC's first funding phase: What do we mean by property, why is it so central to societies, and what does "structural change" actually mean?

The podcast is available on the CRC's website, as well as on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

On May 7, the Collaborative Research Center invites you to a public event titled “The Socialization of the Means of (Re)Production. On Steel Mills and Hospitals as Democratically Managed Commons" at 6 p.m. at Café Wagner in Jena. Justus Henze and Max Wilken from Communia e.V. will discuss with Silke van Dyk and Tilman Reitz what happens when not only hospitals, daycare centers, or public transportation are organized as public commons, but also key industries. How do approaches to socialization in industrial policy differ from those in social services, and where can common starting points for an alternative public policy be found?

The CRC's annual conference, titled “Problematic Objects of Property - Form, Materiality, Politics,” will take place from November 4–6. Together with guests from Germany and abroad, our researchers will discuss the tensions that arise from the formation of property objects, are results of their inherent nature, and are at stake in political debates. The conference will explore the strategies by which property objects are stabilized, re-formatted, or dissolved, and how the peculiar materiality of things can facilitate or defy their transformation into a form of property. The full program will be available on the CRC's website in late May.

As part of our film series “Eigentum im Blick”, we will screen the Greek film “Alpen” on May 19 at 8 pm at the Kino am Markt in Jena, introduced by sociologist Stefanie Graefe. On June 23, we will show the US-American film “Her,” with an introduction by sociologist Jörg Oberthür.

On May 21 at 7 pm, Klaus Dörre, Steffen Liebig, and Stefan Schmalz will present their new book, "Umkämpfte Transformation", at the Augustinerkloster in Erfurt and discuss their research findings with union representatives.

In the latest volume of the Collaborative Research Center’s book series published by Campus Verlag, titled “Kants Kritik des Eigentums. Aktualität und Perspektiven im Anschluss an den ethischen Sozialismus" authors Sebastian Bandelin and Yann Schosser demonstrate that Kant’s concept of property is still remarkably relevant today. They also revisit a largely forgotten philosophical debate: socialist interpretations of Kant that were developed in Germany and France about a century ago.

The volume is available open access here.

In addition to a new Working Paper on alternative forms of property, the SFB’s working paper series also includes a new paper on identity and belonging through land ownership in premodern China. All Working Papers are available on the CRC’s website.

Two new posts published on the CRC blog address very different topics: Alexander Dobeson’s post examines how land (ownership) is converted into value. In contrast, Yuxuan Ren writes about how women use communal spaces in major Chinese cities to put efforts in sustainability into practice.

• Althaber, Agnieszka; Kapelle, Nicole; Leuze, Kathrin (2026): "Independent or Joint? How Relative Income and Wealth Relate to Couples' Money Management in Eastern and Western Germany", Journal of Marriage and Family, online first.

• van Dyk, Silke; Gerstenhöfer, Luzie (2026): „Remaking Public Politics? New municipalism, participatory governance and urban welfare in Barcelona", PaCo. Partecipazione & Conflitto. The Open Journal of Sociopolicial Studies, 19(1), 377-395. 

• Groß, Matthias (2026): „Fruchtbare Gemengelagen: Die Umweltsoziologie mit epistemisch-methodischen Neuerungen auf wankendem ökologischem Boden”, Soziologische Revue 49(1), 3-24.

• Martschukat, Jürgen (2026): "The Lockean Subject: A Critical Reappraisal", Comparativ, 35(5-6), 579-596.

• Reitz, Tilman (2026): "Jenseits des Bilderverbots", Soziopolis, 14.01.2026.

• Rüpke, Jörg (2026): “Property, reciprocity, and urban morale in the Sententiae of Publilius Syrus”, in: G. Gelardini, K. S. Fuglseth, P. J. Bekken (Hrsg.): Bridging Educational Virtues and Values: Greco-Roman, Jewish, and Early Christian Paideia and its Relevance in Past and Present, Religious Diversity and Education in Europe, Münster: Waxmann.

• Schuck, Dirk (2026): "Agriculture, Property and Habits. A Comparison of Adam Smith and James C. Scott", in: B. Kleeberg et. al. (Hrsg.): Nomad Properties. Political Anthropologies of Nomadism from the 18th Century until Today, Frankfurt Main/Chicago: Campus.

• Tittor, Anne (2026): "Postfossil extractivism. A new lens on decarbonization’s land and material intensity", The Journal of Peasant Studies, 1–24.

• Tittor, Anne (2026): „Mileis Argentinien: Befeuerte Ausbeutung", Blätter für deutsche und internationale Politik, 3/2026.