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Profile
PhD title: Moral and amoral economies of abundance: exploring the permissibility and political economy of vacant property uses in London.
Building on growing moral concerns surrounding the abundance of vacant property amidst the present housing crisis, my research explores how different ways of using, securing and managing abandoned property in London are variably considered permissible and acceptable, and to what effects. I concentrate on three practices surrounding vacant property: absentee property security and management; property guardianship; and use-value practices, especially squatting.
Taking an interdisciplinary qualitative approach rooted in perspectives from Economic Anthropology and approaches from Cultural Political Economy, my research concentrates on two interconnected themes. First, my research explores how these three types of practices are unevenly considered permissible according to moral and amoral schema – especially notions of legal legitimacy and “common sense” norms – by diverse actors (policymakers, property owners, property management companies, grassroots activists). Second, and taking a step further, I connect these discursive elements to experiences on the ground. These are situated within contemporary treatments of land as a speculative financial asset. In this vein, I consider how some practices might equally destabilise prevailing economic expectations by mobilising the useful affordances of properties.
My research is underscored by a critical engagement with questions of abundance, contestations over the basic economic affordances (capabilities) and the ordinary regulation of social provisioning practices.
Research Interests
Land and property affordances, (a)moral economies, urban exclusion, social provisioning, illicitness; Cultural Political Economy, Economic Geographies/Anthropology.
Academic Background
BA Geography, University of Cambridge, 2020-23
MRes Geography, QMUL, 2024-25
Supervisors
Carlo Inverardi-Ferri, Department of Geography, QMUL
Jon May, Department of Geography, QMUL
Funding
ESRC London Interdisciplinary Social Sciences DTP