Master's thesis. / Format: PDF. Bibl.

This dissertation is looking at quilombo grassroots land and identity politics as they transpire in a compound of Black rural communities in the north of the state of Maranhão, Brazil. One of the main questions this thesis asks is: How do communities mobilise resources in defence of their territories when formal means of establishing land claims have been exhausted? Based on ethnographic research conducted over fifteen months my analysis delves into strategies employed by peasant groups for the assertion of their collective land ownership. This assertion taps into specific ethno-racial legislation and it is especially directed towards Evangelical Christians, whom the majority of Catholic quilombola residents regard as their territorial and religious antagonists. This thesis's broadest argument is that this territorial defence mainly materialises through two streams of action: religious and cultural grassroots activism. It is argued that creative uses and articulations of cultural and religious practices, and the creation of a network of alliances, transpire as the most relevant means of 'informal' community politics. More specifically, I argue that local ceramic production (intrinsically attached to notions of a 'quilombo heritage') and religious festivities in honour of the local patron saint contribute to the preservation of a specific quilombo territoriality. In the ethnographic context examined, this territoriality is inherently attached to popular Catholicism and notions of quilombola cultural identity. Employing approaches from agrarian, peasant politics, quilombo, and heritage studies, this dissertation seeks to illuminate the dynamic relation between local perceptions of land and territoriality in the 'lands of Santa Teresa'. Overall, this thesis aims at contributing to those studies that explore the diversity and creativity of politics 'from below'.

With the advent of democracy in South Africa in 1994, the newly elected ANC government embarked on an ambitious program of land reform. The land reform programme in South Africa rests on 3 pillars: <ul> <li> Land redistribution</li> <li> Land restitution</li> <li> Land tenure reform</li> </ul> Land tenure reform is at the core of this case study and of the 3 pillars, has faced the most challenges during implementation. The renovation of public policy in general, and particularly in land policy, appears in numerous cases to be a priority on national agendas to relieve the numerous challenges rural Africans face: land conflicts, land insecurity, important demographic pressures and weight, high prevalence of poverty in rural areas, to identify just a few of these challenges. By analysing the development process of the Communal Land Rights Act of 2004 (CLaRA), this case study sought to understand the renovation of public land policy in South Africa. Review of literature on land tenure reform yielded a dichotomy of views with one side favouring freehold title for landless communities whilst on the other hand, there are proponents of a hybrid tenure system that recognizes the functioning aspects of traditional communal tenure. Those favouring freehold title pointed to the fact that this would increase investments on the land and access of the landowners to capital through formal financial markets. Those who would not be in a position to work the land would be able to sell it and invest the money elsewhere. Contrastingly, communal tenure was seen to have benefits for the wider community and for holders of secondary land rights such as women and children who could be excluded under freehold tenure arrangements. The notion that cash poor landless people could sell the land also raises political issues which might be politically detrimental to the government of the day. The research was primarily qualitative, interviewing a broad spectrum of stakeholders in the CLaRA development process. Stakeholders included government officials, traditional leadership, communities, legal advisors, land based NGOs, civil society, academia, research institutions, parliamentarians and politicians. The objective of this research was to determine the extent of participation by various stakeholders at the national level in policy development, with CLaRA as a case study. This was done through analyzing the various positions taken by different stakeholders and the extent to which these were included or the extent to which these influenced the content of the final Act. The outcome of the analysis indicates that to a greater extent, participatory processes seemed to have taken place during the development of the CLaRA, including numerous submissions by various groups to parliamentary portfolio committees, but the final content of the Act reflected predominantly the views of government and not other affected stakeholders. This led to the immediate challenge of the legislation in court by some communities and civil society leading to the eventual nullification of the legislation by the constitutional court. Copyright / Dissertation (MSc(Agric))--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development / unrestricted

Women produce 80% of the food in sub-Sahara but solely own a meager 1% of the land they cultivate. Since the mid-90 century, this issue has been illuminated in the international community and launched a trend of land tenure reform, particularly in sub-Sahara, where numerous countries have substantial rural populations. The trend is situated in the importance of inclusive land rights for the rural population because of the mitigating effect it has on conflict and on the promotion of gender equality. The purpose of this study is through semi-structured interviews and focus groups, contribute to identifying and explaining the current main obstacles that persist for rural women of Liberia to benefit from the Liberian Land Rights Law of 2018 after the new law has been passed and the implementation has begun. The study shows that the three main obstacles that persist for women are the patriarchal power relation, the lack of awareness, and the lack of local institutions. Where the law has been implemented, it certainly promotes equality between the genders, but there is still a long and rough road before the Liberian people can cross the finish line of full implementation and gender equality regarding land.

No description available.

Current processes of deforestation and development in the Amazon Basin continue historical trends that have devastated indigenous populations and drastically reduced their land rights. While protection of the Amazon ecosystem has become a worldwide concern, many indigenous and folk groups employ forest management strategies that utilize natural resources without causing permanent degradation. This paper considers historical, political and socioeconomic circumstances that threaten the survival of indigenous groups and their sustainable forms of forest use. The paper argues that discrepant cultural models and attitudes contribute to the differences in land use between traditional Amazon residents and newcomers. The problems and possibilities entailed by efforts to protect traditional land rights are also discussed.

Since the 1990s, the population on the Honduran island of Roatán has grown from around 20,000 (mostly English-speaking Islanders) to roughly 100,000 residents (at least half of which are native Spanish-speaking Ladinos from the Honduran mainland) (Bay Islands Voice 2014b). This population growth has occurred alongside increasing forms of economic and environmental precarity that have fueled widespread instability on the island. While ethnic tensions between Ladinos and Islanders have existed since colonial times, conflict between the groups reached a crescendo in 2014 after the murder of a cruise ship employee in Roatán by a Ladino migrant. This sparked a security crisis for the island’s idyllic tourism industry. In an effort to address growing security concerns, municipal authorities proposed a plan that included the installation of surveillance cameras in key population centers, use of 24-hour police patrols, and implementation of an identification program to track migration to the island. Authorities argued Ladino migrants were not only an ecological burden on the island, but also a major source of criminal activity, leading to the tourism industry’s instability. Yet, while stakeholders of island tourism were quick to cite Ladino migration as a major source of precarity, my research shows its causes are much broader and more complex. I argue simply blaming population growth – without a nuanced analysis of emerging human-environment relationships – does little to explain the multifaceted causes of instability in Roatán’s tourism industry. Drawing on twelve months of ethnographic research, I find the instability in Roatán’s tourism industry is more fully explained through four overlapping crises playing out across Honduras for the majority poor, including: a lack of physical and political representation, struggles over land rights, social and economic immobilities, and disappearing childhood. I examine this precarity as part of wider trends in global capitalism (e.g. increased expulsions of people from their lands), but also as something inextricably local in nature (e.g. filtered through a Ladino threat narrative). My analysis contributes to broader conversations occurring in the field of anthropology about how to discern and make sense of the growing forms of precarity humans face. For example, Sassen (2014) argues pinpointing the causes of precarity, such as those shaping life in Roatán, has grown more challenging as complex constellations of power obscure direct causal relationships. Parsing out the complicated relationships between formations of power on the Honduran mainland and growing sources of precarity on Roatán is one way I add to this body of literature. My research also contributes to this issue through examinations of the everyday cultural productions of value, meaning, and hope that emerge through engagements with the tourism industry—and how they anchor people amidst the backdrop of escalating uncertainty.

Extract from the Introduction: The main considerations of this thesis are: a) That current legislation and policy are tied to a conceptual model based on stereotypes of 'traditional' and 'non-traditional' Aboriginals; b) That 'non-traditional' Aboriginals, such as the people of Port Augusta, are deprived of specialised consideration in relation to land rights because of their lack of an overtly traditional life-style; c) That the scarcity of the resource of land creates an environment prone to conflict and competition; d) That Aboriginals within highly institutionalised environments, such as Port Augusta, become inextricably tied to external institutions and even have members of their own groups co-opted into the ranks of the Government; e) That this process has facilitated the penetration and direct or indirect control of land rights politics by external agents; f) That external penetration has reshaped land rights and introduced new factors, exacerbated old factions and assisted in transforming land rights into an issue of internal competition; g) That the apparently willy-nilly strategies of Aboriginals seeking land rights are a product of their efforts to exercise choice within a context of external penetration and control. / Thesis (M.A.)--Department of Geography, 1983.

Concerns the situation of indigenous people in Argentina. / UN Job no.: G0511710 E. Material type: NGO written statements. Issued under agenda item 15, agenda document E/CN.4/2005/1.

Guyana’s REDD+ model features the placement of almost all of the country’s rainforest under long-term protection in return for monetary incentives that will be used to move the country along a low carbon development trajectory. It is a model of forestry preservation and sustainable development that the Government of Guyana is developing in partnership with the Government of Norway. This model of development is part of the global climate change mitigation scheme, Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation plus (REDD+). REDD+ is a series of initiatives focused on/in developing countries seeking to diminish carbon dioxide emissions caused by deforestation and degradation, processes recognized as being one of the leading causes of climate change. It aims to dramatically reduce these emissions by creating an incentive mechanism that will pay developing countries to halt destructive processes that lead to deforestation and degradation. Guyana’s REDD+ model has significant implications for Amerindians who occupy the forested regions of Guyana, where most REDD+ related activities are scheduled to take place. Although this model is developing in a context where the legal and political regime governing Amerindians is weak, the treatment of Amerindians in REDD+ development leaves much to be desired in terms of both recognition and protection of important human rights. This Thesis reviews Guyana’s pioneering REDD+ model to show that it is failing to safeguard Amerindian rights recognized under international human rights law. Within the framework of the law, it argues that Guyana’s actions are contrary to its international obligations regarding indigenous peoples. Appropriate measures that should be adopted by Guyana to safeguard Amerindian rights are explored and proposed in this thesis. Possible measures that can be adopted by Norway, the World Bank, and the international community to motivate Guyana to undertake reforms are also examined.