An Uncommon Land: From an Ancestral Past of Enclosure Towards a Regenerative Future
Author(s): Catherine Knight
An Uncommon Land is a story of enclosure, dispossession, colonisation and – ultimately – hope for a better future.
Through the lens of her ancestors’ stories, Catherine Knight throws light on the genesis and evolution of the commons, its erosion through enclosure and the ascendency of private property in parallel with the rise of capitalism – a history that has indelibly shaped New Zealand society and its landscape.
Like other European settlers, the lives and future prosperity of the author’s ancestors had their foundations in war, land appropriation and environmental destruction – but in their histories lie glimmerings of the potentiality of commons: tantalising hints of an alternative path to a re-commoned, regenerative future.
From a past of enclosure, resource exploitation and exponential growth, this book shines light on the potentiality of a different future, taking inspiration from our collective history.
General Information
- :
- : Totara Press
- : Totara Press
- : 01 May 2025
- : books
Other Specifications
- : Catherine Knight
More About The Product
'A highly original, intriguing and excellent work of scholarship, An Uncommon Land looks to the past to provide a pathway to a sustainable and fairer future. Weaving family histories of migration brilliantly into broader themes of colonisation, the commodification of land and climate change, Knight suggests we look to the concept of the commons as a way of managing finite environmental resources for the benefit of all. A timely, topical and essential read.' - Vincent O'Malley, author of The Great War for New Zealand 1800-2000.
'Knight's research is wide ranging and impressive and the text flows seamlessly as she builds a complex and multi-faceted argument' - Tom Brooking, Emeritus Professor of History, Otago University
Author Biography:
Dr Catherine Knight is an award-winning writer and environmental historian, and a policy practitioner. She is an Honorary Research Associate at the School of People, Environment and Planning, Massey University, and the author of five previous books, including Nature and Wellbeing in Aotearoa New Zealand (Totara Press, 2020), Beyond Manapouri: 50 years of environmental politics in New Zealand (Canterbury University Press, 2018), New Zealand's Rivers: An environmental history (Canterbury University Press, 2016) and Ravaged Beauty: An environmental history of the Manawatu (Dunmore/Totara Press, 2014).
