This TORCH network explores rent as a structuring force in everyday life. It is clear that the global housing crisis is, in many ways, a story of rent. Rent and ownership feature regularly in discussions about economic precarity and social mobility. But such issues are far from new, and have looked different over time. And while it is deeply connected to matters of housing, tenancy has long played an equally important role in our understanding of landscape, nation, and empire.

Led by scholars of Early Medieval literature, Victorian literature, nineteenth-century European urban history, and contemporary urban politics, we’re bringing together participants from a range of specialisms in and beyond academia to think about ‘rent’ in a broad way. Our conversations will cross historical, geographical, and disciplinary lines, and will create a space to consider tenants’ stories. We define ‘rent’ flexibly, and one of our objectives is to learn how these definitions intersect or compete.

This TORCH network is part of a broader project co-hosted with the School of English and Drama at Queen Mary University of London. For news and updates on our activities outside Oxford, please see rentcultures.org.

To join our mailing list, drop us a line at mailto:rentcultures@torch.ox.ac.uk.