Competition over soil and subsoil. Land grabbing by local elites in South Kivu, DCR

Mushagalusa Mudinga, Emery;Ansoms, An;Claessens, Klara
(2014) Losing your land. Dispossession in the Great Lakes — ISBN: [978-1-84701-105-3], p. 218 pages, published

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Authors
  • Mushagalusa Mudinga, EmeryUCLouvain
    Author
  • Ansoms, AnUCLouvain
    Author
  • Claessens, KlaraIOB
    Author
Abstract
This chapter analyses land conflicts and cases of land grabbing in Kalehe (Eastern DRC), a context in which competition for land is rooted in an atmosphere of violence and ethnic cleavages. By using three case-studies, we illustrate how, in a context of plurality of norms and rules in the land arena, the rights of the ‘strongest’ often prevail. Success or failure in acquiring land rights depends upon actors’ capacity to efficiently instrumentalise the legitimacy of the Congolese army, of official state agents, and/or of local customary authorities. In its conclusion, the chapter puts into perspective the dominant conception of land grabbing, currently highly debated on the international agenda, by analysing how land conflicts are anchored in a broader context of political competition.
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Citations

Mushagalusa Mudinga, E., Ansoms, A., & Claessens, K. (2014). Competition over soil and subsoil. Land grabbing by local elites in South Kivu, DCR. In An Ansoms and Thea Hilhorst (ed.), Losing your land. Dispossession in the Great Lakes (p. p. 218 pages). James Currey. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/194966