220027 Environment, property, and ideology across 20th-century Europe (S) (WiSe 2026/2027)

This seminar investigates the intertwined histories of the environment, property regimes, and political ideologies across 20th-century Europe. From land reforms and collectivisation projects to postwar reconstruction, infrastructural modernisation, and neoliberal privatisations, we examine how landscapes and natural resources became key arenas of ideological contestation and transformation. Drawing on case studies from diverse European regions—from the industrialised heartlands to rural peripheries—we explore how competing visions of ownership and stewardship on the one hand and sustainability and extractivism on the other shaped both environmental policy, political economy and broader social orders. The seminar encourages students to engage historically and comparatively with the evolving relationship between humans, land, and power.
The BIP brings together bachelor, master and PhD students from Charles University, Bielefeld University and the University of Innsbruck. It is designed as an interdisciplinary and international learning environment that combines environmental history, social and economic history, the history of political ideologies and the history of science and expertise. The participation of PhD students from Prague may further strengthen the programme through peer learning, research mentoring and the discussion of ongoing dissertation projects.