How do different understandings of labour, land, and finance re-orient questions of uneven (regional) development? How does a focus on nature and ecology reanimate debates on the future of work and energy? This strand of research investigates how the dialectic of nature and society shapes our ideas of economic and ecological worlds, their geographies and histories. It seeks to rethink theories of labour and livelihood through engagements with diverse working practices in different regions of the world, including ongoing projects on the solar photovoltaic (Carlo Inverardi-Ferri) and green hydrogen industries (Will Monteith); artisanal fishing and labour migrations (Niranjana); and food regimes and human metabolism (Archie Davies).