Rethinking Property and Hegemony: Bridging RPT and Ideology and Discourse Analysis

Speakers

Bram Akkermans is Professor of Property Law at Maastricht University. Bram specialises in sustainability and property law and combines property theory with constitutional property and property doctrine to explore how property law can accommodate sustainable thinking. He has widely published on comparative and European property law, both in the area of European economic integration, human rights and – more recently – property theory incorporating sustainability. He is co-editor of the Ius Commune Casebook on Property Law (2012, Hart Publishing), author of The Principle of Numerus Clausus in European Property Law (2008, Intersentia) and Sustainable Property Law. Reckoning – Resilience – Reform (2022, Eleven International Publishing). In 2024 the edited volume Research Agenda for Property Law appeared with Edward Elgar Publishing.

Peter Bloom, a Professor of Management at the University of Essex, explores how technology and cultural paradigms can transform contemporary work, organizations, and society. His research critically examines the intersection of economic marketization, political authoritarianism, and the “dark side” of empowerment discourses in the workplace. A central theme of his work is rethinking the human aspects of organizational life to create more equitable and empowering economic and political systems. As co-director of the Centre for Commons Organising, Values, Equalities, and Resilience (COVER), Professor Bloom investigates how principles of cooperation, collaboration, and open knowledge sharing can reshape organizations and foster societal transformation. His scholarship extends to examining the impact of technology on organizing processes and structures, offering insights into building more resilient and just systems. Widely recognized for his contributions, his work is featured in leading international journals and media, addressing urgent global challenges with a critical and innovative lens.

Lorna Fox O’Mahony, Essex Law School, focuses on the role of law in contemporary property problems, particularly in respect of land, housing and home. Her work has been published in leading peer-reviewed journals and she is author or editor of twelve books, including the award-winning Conceptualising Home (2006, Hart Publishing) and a student-facing book, Great Debates in Land Law (3rd edition 2023). She developed Resilient Property Theory (RPT), a new theoretical and methodological approach to tackling contemporary property problems (with Prof Marc Roark). Current projects include applications of RPT to address current issues in housing, climate change, platform real estate and consumer protection, in the context of the democratic legal system.

Marc L. Roark is a Professor of Law at University of Tulsa. His research primarily considers how narratives and norms are scaled in property conflicts around housing. Together with Lorna Fox O’Mahony, he is the author of Squatting and the State: Resilient Property Theory in an Age of Crisis. His primary areas of work are in the study of housing and homelessness through the lens of property norms. He is currently working on several projects focused on applying vulnerability theory in the context of resilience gaps and resilient property theory across numerous areas including housing, ruralism, Indian law, and commercial law.

How to attend

This event is held on Colchester campus in EBS.2.65, and remotely through Zoom.