New Books in Critical Theory

Maria Kaika and Luca Ruggiero, "Class Meets Land: The Embodied History of Land Financialization" (U California Press, 2024)

Mar 6, 2025

Maria Kaika is a professor specializing in urban political ecology at the University of Amsterdam, while Luca Ruggiero focuses on economic geography at the University of Catania. They delve into how 19th-century class struggles over land have shaped today's financial capitalism. The conversation highlights the transformation of industrial spaces, the impact of financialization on worker rights, and the tension between modern urban development and community displacement. Their insights illustrate the deep, intertwined histories of land and social conflict.

01:03:07

Episode guests

Luca Ruggiero

Maria Kaika

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Quick takeaways

The historical struggles over land from the 19th century reveal deep connections to contemporary financial capitalism and class dynamics.

Urban redesign significantly impacts community identity, often alienating long-time residents while prioritizing middle-class needs and erasing historical ties.

Deep dives

Transforming Class Identities Through Land

The podcast discusses the historical shift from feudalism to industrial capitalism and how industrial land played a pivotal role in reconstituting social identities. Peasants who transitioned into industrial labor faced challenges in adapting to new work rhythms, leading to tension and resistance against capitalist structures. Pirelli, a significant industrial player, recognized the need for creating 'loyal' workers by offering environments that fostered a sense of community, turning bleak industrial sites into more welcoming spaces. This aestheticization of labor facilitated the embodiment of discipline among workers, establishing a strong connection between land and their identity as industrial laborers.

Intro

2min

Land Financialization and Class Dynamics

16min

Transforming Industrial Spaces: The Aestheticization of Labor and Community

4min

Land, Labor, and Class Struggle

13min

Class Consciousness and Anti-Fascist Resistance in Italy's Factories

4min

Financialization and Worker Rights

10min

The Alienation of Land: Financialization and Community Displacement

5min

Decaffeinated Urbanity: The Bicocca Transformation

7min

Class Meets Land: The Embodied History of Land Financialization (University of California Press, 2024) by Dr. Maria Kaika & Dr. Luca Ruggiero reveals something seemingly counterintuitive: that nineteenth-century class struggles over land are deeply implicated in the transition to twenty-first-century financial capitalism. Challenging our understanding of land financialization as a recent phenomenon propelled by high finance, Dr. Kaika and Dr. Ruggiero foreground 150 years of class struggle over land as a catalyst for assembling the global financial constellation. Narrating the close-knit histories of industrial land, industrial elites, and the working class, the authors offer a novel understanding of land financialization as a “lived” process: the outcome of a relentless, socially embodied historical unfolding, in which shifts in land’s material, economic, and symbolic roles impact both local everyday lives and global capital flows.

This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars.

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