Speaker:
Miles Kenney-Lazar
Senior lecturer in the School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Melbourne
Talk title:
Socializing Land: Intersections of Plantations, Dispossession and Resistance in Laos
Talk Abstract:
This talk examines the intersection of Chinese and Vietnamese pulpwood and rubber plantations with the lands of the Indigenous Brou people in southern Laos. It will feature Dr. Miles Kenney-Lazar, Senior Lecturer at the School of Geography at the University of Melbourne. Based on his book Socializing Land (University of Hawai’i Press, 2025), Kenney-Lazar conceptualizes land as a web of social relationships that entangle peasant farmers, state officials, civil society groups, and plantation capitalists. He examines how and why ties to land are socialized in different orientations, being pulled and stretched in contradictory ways that shape control over land by capital versus the peasantry. This talk will reflect on how the histories of socializing land might affect control over resources as Laos pursues more “sustainable” paths of capitalist development.
For graduate students of the Centre for Southeast Asia Research (CAESAR) and Geography there will be a pre-colloquium early lunch from 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM in room 229.
Please RSVP if you are planning to attend LUNCH. We will be serving sushi from Hitoe Sushi Japanese Restaurant 3347 West 4th Avenue, and it helps us determine how much to order!
Speaker Bio:
Miles Kenney-Lazar is Senior Lecturer in Human Geography, School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Melbourne. His research examines the political ecologies of ongoing plantation expansion, especially in relation to land dispossession, agrarian change, and forest governance. He is interested in the political-economic drivers of land use change, the inequalities of environmental and livelihood transitions, and the political strategies of a ected peoples. His research aims to help advance more equitable and socially just rural ecologies.
This is hybrid event hosted in Geog 229 and on zoom.