Agri-investment scholars of the world unite! The finance-driven land rush as boundary object

This response addresses several of the issues raised by the commentaries on my book Farming as Financial Asset - Global Finance and the Making of Institutional Landscapes (2020). Reflecting upon the intentions and limitations of the book, it makes a call for treating agri-investments to which scholars contribute from different geographical, theoretical, and methodological angles. In detail, it engages with the question of how farmland investments relate to other 'asset classes' in terms of the practical (and political) problem of institutional investibility, the material and human dimensions of institutional landscapes, the ownership question, as well as the challenge to write a book that has a global historical outlook and offers situated accounts at the same time. It also engages with questions of comparativism, methodology, and the political implications of an opening-the-black box approach.

Automated summary

This response addresses the issues raised in the commentaries on my book and calls for a comprehensive approach towards agri-investments. It engages with questions of institutional investibility, the dimensions of institutional landscapes, ownership, and the challenge of providing a global historical outlook while offering situated accounts. The article also explores comparativism, methodology, and the political implications of an opening-the-black box approach.