This Junior Research Group investigates the social and political mediation of land use change and conflicts in different world regions. GLOCON analyses historically evolved social structures, actors, government policies, discourses and institutions connected with land use change, in order to develop theoretical approaches that contribute to relevant literatures on the basis of empirical investigations in a range of sub-Saharan and Latin-American countries.

In this, GLOCON focuses on the valorisation of land, land-related resources, minerals and metals.

Central research questions:

• How are processes of land use change and social conflicts interrelated?
• What mediating factors shape these relations and produce specific conflict dynamics?
• What kinds of entry points are available for political intervention aiming at a constructive transformation of land conflicts?