Workshop: New Forms of Ownership

Date
July, 2026
Thursday, 2nd July, 09:30-18:00
Friday, 3rd July, 10:00-14:15

Location
Center for Ethics and Philosophy in Practice
LMU Munich, Main Building, Room M 210 (LMU room finder)
Geschwister-Scholl-Platz 1, 80539 Munich

Registration

eveeno.com

 

About

Ownership has returned as a central question in political and social philosophy. Property and ownership shape how power, resources, and decision-making are distributed, and they affect our understanding of freedom, justice, and democracy.

Our workshop brings together scholars to discuss new forms of ownership in business corporations, land, natural resources, and social infrastructure. Particular attention will be given to alternative models such as employee, cooperative, steward, public, and commons-based ownership, as well as to practical pathways for transforming existing property regimes.

Programme

Thursday (July 2, 2026)

09:30h Hannes Kuch and Paulus Kaufmann (LMU)
Welcome

10:00h Rutger Claasen (Utrecht)
Growing up. Big Corporations, Value Extraction and the Prospects for Corporate Adulthood

11:00h Coffee Break

11:15h Jenny Stupka (FU Berlin)
Public ownership and anti fascist strategies: potentials and limits of socialisation today

12:15h Coffee Break

12:30h Jerome Warren (IfU Frankfurt)
Infrastructure Before Innovation: Building the Legal and Financial Architecture for Employee Ownership in Germany

13:30h Lunch

14:30h Eva Weiler (Duisburg-Essen)
Democratization of ownership. On the difficulties to democratize a hierarchical structure

15:30h Coffee Break

15:45h Sophie Bloemen (Commons Network)
Digital infrastructures, the community economy and transformative ownership

16:45h Coffee Break

17:00h Niklas Angebauer (Oldenburg)
Taking Locke Seriously: Value Creation, Natural Resources, and Reproductive Labour

18:00h End of Day 1

19:00h Dinner

Friday (July 3, 2026)

10:00h Mike McCarthy (UC Santa Cruz)
From Ownership to Control: A Radical Plan to Democratize Finance

11:00h Coffee break

11:15h Jessica Edioke (Purpose Foundation) and Elisabeth Pichler (Stiftung Verantwortungseigentum)
Ownership Is a Design Choice: Steward Ownership in Theory and Practice

12:15h Lunch


13:15h Tanja Schomann (LMU) und Caroline Obolensky (Thurgau Institute for Digital Transformation)
Steward Ownership: Organizational Implications of a Legal Innovation

14:15h End of Day 2

Speakers

Niklas Angebauer (University of Oldenburg)

Sophie Bloemen (Commons Network)

Rutger Claassen (Utrecht University)

Jessica Edioke (Purpose Foundation)

Mike McCarthy (UC Santa Cruz)

Caroline Obolensky (Hochschule St. Gallen)

Elisabeth Pichler (Stiftung Verantwortungseigentum)

Tanja Schomann (LMU)

Jenny Stupka (FU Berlin)

Jerome Warren (IfU Frankfurt)

Eva Weiler (University of Duisburg-Essen)

 

Organisation: Hannes Kuch (LMU), Paulus Kaufmann (LMU)