The struggle over land in Africa: conflicts, politics & change

Abstract

Land issues and conflicts occur all over, all the time on the African continent and continue to mushroom on a continuous basis. Although many of these issues are not new, they do continue to change and are extremely complex and embedded, which may lead to the inability to deal with them and to questioning the legitimacy of the forms of intervention and prevention of conflicts. The way in which these issues are dealt with often does not take into consideration their major - and thus potentially recurring - causes. The Struggle over Land in Africa: Conflicts, Politics and Change is a compelling book which analyses the role of land as a place and source of conflict, especially with regard to policy development, crisis management and post-war/post-conflict reconstruction. The authors? main aim is to gain insight into the nature of policy-making concerning land and to delve into the underlying causes of these land issues, not only at national level but also in terms of broader Africa. The book covers land issues in Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, northern Cameroon, Namibia, Mozambique, Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. Some of the themes explored in this powerful volume include: Ethnic and indigenous land conflicts, Traditionalism versus modernity, renewed land interests, land use and conflict, state building, politics and land (for example Agricultural land reform); land policy development, planning, inclusiveness/non-inclusiveness; regional scopes of land conflicts and changing norms.