Landscapes of value

Abstract

This special issue presents a collection of ethnographic and archaeological articles that consider how humans inscribe landscapes with diverse forms of value. From natural resources to real estate markets, from cherished homelands to foreign speculative investment, the way we approach landscapes offers insights into value systems as they map onto and emerge from biophysical terrains. We argue that the “landscapes of value” analytic foregrounds such materiality to embed cyclical value making within particular places and times. We introduce this special issue by discussing the articles' contributions along four overlapping processes of landscape valuation: commodification, exclusion, speculation, and simplification.