Broschiertes Buch

The Politics of Possession

Property, Authority, and Access to Natural Resources

Herausgeber: Sikor, Thomas; Lund, Christian

Beschreibung

'When people or states assert control over land and its resources, how do they justify their claims? Cases in this original collection link competitive claims to a fractured politics. Its overarching analysis linking property claims with political legitimacy - and plurality of both linked to conflict - provides an important framework that is as good to contemplate at the most local setting as it is to the most global.' James Fairhead, University of Sussex 'Who gets to determine the legitimacy of claims and rights over property and resources? Any answer to this question must be sensitive to the varied forms by which societies organize and institutionalise access to and control over resources whether this be among peasant communities in Indonesia forests or in the slumworld of Mumbai or Lagos. But equally important is a full accounting of the forms of authority by which rights are conferred and relatedly how these forms of authority have limits and are invariably contested, fought over (often violently), disputed and reformed (even overturned). The ways in which authority, power and property are always inseparably linked strikes to the heart of Politics of Possession. Sikor and Lund have drawn together the leading theorists working on the property and natural resource question. The chapters are a brave and innovative mix of conceptual innovation, thick description and comparative insight. A pathbreaking and foundational book.' Michael Watts, University of California, Berkeley Access to resources is often contested and rife with conflict. This holds particularly true in societies characterized by normative pluralism such as post-colonial and post-socialist countries. Access and property are very dynamic because they are joined to questions of power and authority. The process of seeking authorization for property claims works to legitimize the authorizers, and the efforts undertaken by politico-legal institutions to gain legitimacy underpin and undermine various claims of access and property. This book includes some of the latest theoretical work on the dynamics of access, property and authority. Bringing the debate about access and property to speak to issues of power and authority, it also offers a thought-provoking approach to the study of everyday processes of state formation. Its contributions explore the politics of possession from a wide empirical compass of original research spanning Latin America, Africa, South-East Asia and Eastern Europe.

Autor

Thomas Sikor is Senior Lecturer in the School of Development Studies at the University of East Anglia, UK. His research focuses on rural property and resource governance, with a geographical emphasis on post-socialist countries. He has authored more than 30 journal articles, is the editor of Public and Private in Natural Resource Governance (2008) and has guest-edited special issues of World Development (2009), Development and Change (2009), Forest Policy and Economics (2006) and Conservation and Society (2004). Christian Lund is Professor in International Development Studies at Roskilde University, Denmark. He is the author of Local Politics and the Dynamics of Property in Africa (2008) and Law, Power, and Politics in Niger - Land Struggles and the Rural Code (1998). He is the editor and co-editor of Twilight Institutions: Public Authority and Local Politics in Africa (2007), and Negotiating Property in Africa (2002).

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Wiley
• Seitenzahl: 224
• Erscheinungstermin: 19. Januar 2010
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 226mm x 150mm x 20mm
• Gewicht: 340g
• ISBN-13: 9781405196567
• ISBN-10: 1405196564
• Artikelnr.: 27179291

Rezensionen

'When people or states assert control over land and itsresources, how do they justify their claims? Cases in thisoriginal collection link competitive claims to a fracturedpolitics. Its overarching analysis linking property claims withpolitical legitimacy - and plurality of both linked to conflict -provides an important framework that is as good to contemplate atthe most local setting as it is to the most global.'
James Fairhead, University of Sussex

'Who gets to determine the legitimacy of claims and rightsover property and resources? Any answer to this question mustbe sensitive to the varied forms by which societies organize andinstitutionalise access to and control over resources whether thisbe among peasant communities in Indonesia forests or in theslumworld of Mumbai or Lagos. But equally important is a fullaccounting of the forms of authority by which rights are conferredand relatedly how these forms of authority have limits and areinvariably contested, fought over (often violently), disputedand reformed (even overturned). The ways in which authority,power and property are always inseparably linked strikes to theheart of Politics of Possession. Sikor and Lund have drawntogether the leading theorists working on the property and naturalresource question. The chapters are a brave and innovative mix ofconceptual innovation, thick description and comparative insight. Apathbreaking and foundational book.'
Michael Watts, University of California, Berkeley