Free the Land: How We Can Fight Poverty and Climate Chaos

by Audrea Lim

An eye-opening examination of how treating land as a source of profit has a massive impact on racial inequality and the housing, gentrification, and environmental crises.

Climate change, gentrification, racial discrimination, and corporate greed are some of the most urgent problems facing our society. They are traditionally treated as unrelated issues, but they all share a common root: the ownership of land. Environmental journalist Audrea Lim began to notice these connections when she reported on the Native communities leading the fight against oil drilling on their lands in the Canadian tar sands near her hometown of Calgary, but before long, she saw the essential role of land commodification and private ownership everywhere she looked: in foreclosure-racked suburbs and gentrifying cities like New York City; among poor, small farmers struggling to keep their businesses afloat; and in low-income communities attempting to resist mines and industrial development on their lands, only to find that their voices counted less than those of shareholders living thousands of miles away.

Free the Land is a captivating and beautifully rendered look at the ways that our relationship to the land is the core cause of the most pressing justice issues in North America. Lim expertly weaves together seemingly disparate themes into a unified theory of social justice, describes how the land ownership system developed over the centuries, and presents original reporting from a wide range of activists and policy makers to illustrate the profound impact it continues to have on our society today.

Ultimately, this book offers a message of by approaching these socioeconomic issues holistically, we can begin to imagine just alternatives to fossil-fueled capitalism, new ways to build community, and a more sustainable, equitable world.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, Environment, Social Justice, Science, Economics, Climate Change

320 pages, Hardcover

Published June 25, 2024

Reviews

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

Freeing The Land

This was a good book.

Initially, the title of the book attracted me, as I am particularly drawn to fighting poverty, and also climate change - it is fairly rare to have both topics in a book title, so I had to check it out!

I found the book mostly and specifically focused on the social justice and memoir aspects of the book title, rather than direct and actionable improvements to political and economic systems, however I did find it an interesting read.

I can't say I agree with some of the views, and found some of the memoir-side of the book fairly lengthy, but I did enjoy it for the most part.

If you are looking for a good book on the social justice aspects of poverty and some details behind the scenes, I definitely recommend checking this out.

3.5/5

[Nicolas Levy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a vague idea of how land ownership was connected to environmental, housing affordability, and racial justice challenges before reading Free The Land, but this book vastly expanded my understanding of all these connections. Audrea Lim packs an impressive amount of research into a relatively short book, touching on the evolution of property rights in medieval England, the US policies and market forces that led to dispossession of Indigenous and Black-owned lands in the United States, and various alternate models of land ownership, including conservation easements, collectively owned farmland among minority farmers in the mainland US and Puerto Rico, a cattle-grazing "commons" in southern Alberta, and collective land trusts for home ownership in American cities. This was my central takeaway from this book: that there are so many alternative land ownership models to the default private property model that predominates in the United States. Lim acknowledges drawbacks with each type of model - nothing is a panacea - but makes a compelling argument to reintroduce these different types of land tenure systems into our policy and cultural arenas.

To me, one of the most interesting parts of this book is Lim's analysis of how different models affect (i) whom is allowed to own and manage the land, (ii) the "bundles" of rights that are afforded to land owners, and (iii) the conditions under which an owner may sell a parcel of land. On the surface, this appears to be arcane legalistic detail, but the many case studies explored in this book demonstrate how these three factors deeply shape the long-term development of communities and their environment. For example, by restricting the "bundles" of rights (e.g. through a conservation easement) and/or the conditions under which a parcel can be sold (e.g. capping a seller's profit), land tenure policy can progressively de-commodify land, thereby countering the market forces that often lead to absentee land ownership and sky-rocketing rents. This realization raises a particularly interesting question: how can different types of land tenure models co-exist with one another? While it is likely unfeasible (and arguably unadvisable) to completely turn away from private ownership of land, Lim points to several examples in which community land trusts, conservation land trusts, public ownership of lands, and other models have found niches in the sea of private land ownership. How far can these alternative models be scaled? Whom can they bring into land ownership? And what spillover effects do they have on surrounding land and communities?

These are some of the many questions Free The Land spurred me to think about. While it was sometimes difficult to follow the thread of the numerous ideas, case studies, and historical research presented in this book, it is a powerful call to start thinking differently about the fundamental forces that can shape how we relate to the land, as individuals and as communities.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book about the intersection of poverty and climate? Please sign me up! Except that was only such a small portion of this book. Yes, it was informative about many movements to help Black and other marginalized communities with home ownership and a connection to the land, but that wasn't the book I thought I was getting. I expected a discussion about how marginalized communities suffer from increased levels of cancers and other diseases because their communities are placed closer to toxic hazards, get less attention for the maintenance of schools, parks, roads, etc. Climate was not even mentioned until about 80% of the way through the book and then it was another 10% before the intersection between climate and marginalized communities was mentioned. Yes, I enjoyed discussions about community gardens and green spaces. Those are needed but that wasn't why I picked up this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a copy of the book. This review is my own opinion.

[Angie Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

We must start thinking about how we want to use the land in the US. America’s lands are not just abundant and only a handful of people and companies are controlling and profiting from their resources.- degrading the environment and shutting out most everyone else. Land I limited but only feels scarce because of our real estate system that encourages land owners to keep properties vacant while we have a raging housing crisis. Minneapolis became the first major US City to ban single-family zoning. This doesn’t ban single-family homes but allows duplexes, triplexes, and apartments- higher density developments- to be built among them. It was never marred by Jim Crowe yet has the lowest Black home ownership rate among major US Cities. When children move into stable housing their asthma symptoms decrease. So much of what we treat in health disparities is really, caused by racism in the economy.

[Cheyenne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you, Netgalley and St Martin's Press for this advanced reader's copy. This was a was fascinating look at how we use and abuse our land. There were parts of this book I absolutely loved, the parts when the author spoke about housing and that all housing shouldn't be for profit. Housing should be a human right. I currently live in one of the most expensive cities in the US and there needs to be AFFORDABLE HOUSING created in ALL CITIES if they want to help with homeless and poverty. There are places with rent control, and they need to be maintained appropriately (and not just for the rich to hoard). I also loved the author's chapter on how Eisenhower providing protections to keep our national land free and wild can benefit the earth with climate change by not mining and building on ALL of our land, keeps beautiful rolling fields, and also benefits our country with tourism.

[Sriya Guduru · Rating 4 out of 5]

“property values are where culture meets economics.”

overall, i think lim provided a really interesting critique of neoliberalism and free market economics in the way that they prioritize profit over people and erode community conservation efforts. a major highlight of the book for me was the discussion of collective land management and CLTs, challenging the long-avowed notion of the tragedy of the commons that we constantly learn in school. (i will say though that it was easy to get lost in the weeds of some of the more technical jargon…)

i docked a star primarily because i wish her discussion of climate change and related disasters occupied more of the book, as it felt somewhat underdeveloped given our current sociopolitical context. but great book overall—made me excited to delve more into nonfiction that matches the granola vegan persona :)

[Riley Pennington · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Brilliance Audio for an audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review! This was an informative book with a lot of really great information on land and how government control has played such a large part in how land is being used. I was really hoping for more information on climate change and how it plays such a big part on the current state of the land, but that was honestly a very small portion of the book. I did enjoy hearing the specific stories of different individuals and groups who have dealt with land ownership issues, it made the information more relevant and personal.

[Alexander Pyles · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well-researched and well-rounded book, that overall felt very thin on a real narrative, other than trying to compact all of the US' land history and (mis)management into one tight book. I appreciated Lim's anecdotes here and all of the information that gave me new things to think about, especially the Somalian farmers in New England, but I hope this book reaches outside the audience that would normally pick up such a book.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scholarly, yet plain and directly written. Land usage, climate change, poverty, racism, economic deprived are shared in this book. How people together purchase joint ownership of land and make it work…

The ladders to achieving ownership of an apartment or small plot for farming could be arduous. The book shares successes and more failures. But hope is alive…. An excellent, thoughtful, and an author with depth and heart…. Nonfiction…..

[Enid Wray · Rating 4 out of 5]

A timely addition to a body of academic work that explores the issues arising from the American model of land ownership and commodification.

Thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for granting me access to an early digital review copy.

3.5 rounded up to 4

[Steven Ridgely · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great information.

[Bryana Stephens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating look into land and how it is mishandled in the United States. I learned so much from it and it lit a fire in me to find out more and how we can change the current status quo

[Zain Noman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great explanation of how we need fundamentally change the way we interact with land if we want to deal with climate change and housing affordability.

[Cherie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An important book with lots of good stuff in here - however, the super activist tone could shock some, but it is so needed. Good stuff in here.