Conference

Colonial Commons: land /law/living/labour

University of British Columbia 29-30 May 2008

Introduction

While the study of commons in Britain and continental Europe is well advanced, and with some notable Indian and North American exceptions, few historians have investigated shared property rights in colonial regimes.

Following on from an earlier 2006 workshop, the conference seeks to redress this by examining a range of issues that arise when the terms 'commons' and 'colonialism' intersect. By ‘commons’ we mean both formally-dedicated ‘Commons’ and the wide variety of informal commons on waterways, Crown Land, rangelands, reserves, reservations, bush, wastes and many other colonial spaces.

The conference presents original research on the history of formal and informal common land and resources in colonial societies, including colonies of non-European powers.

The conference is jointly sponsored by the Network in Canadian History and Environment (NiCHE), the Faculty of Law, UBC, and Faculty of Arts, University of Wollongong.

Convenors

Dr Colin M. Coates
Canada Research Chair in Canadian Cultural Landscapes/
Chaire de recherche du Canada sur les paysages culturels canadiens
Glendon College/ Collège universitaire Glendon
York University / Université York
email: mailto:ccoates@glendon.yorku.ca

Dr Doug Harris
Faculty of Law
University of British Columbia
email: mailto:harris@law.ubc.ca

Dr Ben Maddison
Senior Lecturer, School of History and Politics
University of Wollongong NSW AUSTRALIA
email: benm@uow.edu.au