Land grabbing and power relations in Burundi: Practical norms and real governance
(2014) Everyday Forms of Land Grabbing in the Great Lakes Region of Africa — published
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- Authors
Nyenyezi Bisoka, Aymar 
- Abstract
- The focus of the chapter by Aymar Nyenyezi and An Ansoms (‘Land grabbing and power relations in Burundi: Practical norms and real governance’) lays on land conflicts that oppose political elites and various groups of ‘ordinary citizens’. This chapter again shows how history shapes contemporary land conflicts. It highlights how patronage networks, clientelism and nepotism have continuously played a central role in control over land regardless of which elite group held power. In the land conflicts described, the involved actors call upon the broad range of existing normative frameworks: legal provisions, arrangements arising from mediation efforts, provisions from the Arusha Peace Agreement, and customary norms. The chapter also shows that the ‘norms’ that finally prevail in such land conflicts, are ultimately the result of the power play amongst the elites. Competing power holders may back up a weaker group in a land conflict to support their own electorate, or to undermine political adversaries. Competition between different ethnic groups is an important factor, but also rivalries between various political parties play a role. However, people do act when they risk losing their land. Power relations may be modified in response to the contestation strategies developed by subordinate actors at the micro level, in their attempts to turn the odds in the land conflict into their favour. The chapter particularly highlights the importance of reinforcing the agency of subordinate groups in the land arena and the crucial role of civil society organisations and the media in this respect. The chapter on Burundi also shows how central power changes frequently and profoundly, when “the coins of power turn”. This strong influence of shifts in the national-level power constellation upon evolutions in local-level land conflicts also implies that seemingly definite solutions are never final in the heads of people who feel disadvantaged by the outcome of the conflict. When the national-level power constellation changes, the odds in micro-level land conflicts may turn overnight and seemingly settled claims again will be contested.
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Citations
Nyenyezi Bisoka, A., & Ansoms, A. (2014). Land grabbing and power relations in Burundi: Practical norms and real governance. In Ansoms, An and Hilhorst, Thea (ed.), Everyday Forms of Land Grabbing in the Great Lakes Region of Africa. James Currey. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/63364