‘This is Our land’

2010 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.S. Mlambo
Keyword(s):  
Land Reform ◽  
Fast Track ◽  
Colonial Period ◽  
Decisive Factor ◽  
Land Acquisition ◽  
White Race ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Reform Programme ◽  
Land Question

This study seeks to trace the role of race in the evolution of the land question in Zimbabwe from Occupation to the ‘fast-track land reform programme’ of 2000 and beyond to explore the extent to which the era of colonial domination made the racialization of the land issue in the post-colonial period almost unavoidable. It contends that Mugabe’s use of race to justify the campaign to drive whites from the land from 2000 onwards was facilitated (in part) by the fact that race had always been used by the colonial authorities as a decisive factor in land acquisition and allocation throughout the colonial period and that using the alleged superiority of the white race, colonial authorities alienated African land for themselves without either negotiating with the indigenous authorities or paying for the land. Consequently, Mugabe’s charge that the land had been stolen and needed to be retaken clearly resonated with some segments of the Zimbabwean population enough to get them to actively participate in the land invasions of the time.

The Party-State in the Land Occupations of Zimbabwe: The Case of Shamva District

2016 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Bhatasara ◽  
Kirk Helliker
Keyword(s):  
Land Reform ◽  
Fast Track ◽  
The State ◽  
Central Province ◽  
Reform Programme ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Year 2000 ◽  
Ruling Party ◽  
Party State

There has been significant debate about the land occupations which occurred from the year 2000 in Zimbabwe, with a key controversy concerning the role of the state and ruling party (or party-state) in the occupations. This controversy, deriving from two grand narratives about the occupations, remains unresolved. A burgeoning literature exists on the Zimbabwean state’s fast-track land reform programme, which arose in the context of the occupations, but this literature is concerned mainly with post-occupation developments on fast-track farms. This article seeks to contribute to resolving the controversy surrounding the party-state and the land occupations by examining the occupations in the Shamva District of Mashonaland Central Province. The fieldwork for our Shamva study focused exclusively on the land occupations (and not on the fast-track farms) and was undertaken in May 2015. We conclude from our Shamva study that involvement by the party-state did not take on an institutionalised form but was of a personalised character entailing interventions by specific party and state actors.

Law Struggles, Lawmaking, and the Politics of Hegemony in Neoliberal India

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth Bo Nielsen ◽  
Alf Gunvald Nilsen
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Land Acquisition ◽  
Ethical Perspective ◽  
Judicial Decisions ◽  
Fair Compensation ◽  
The Right ◽  
Neoliberal India ◽  
Land Question

The chapter examines the fairness claim of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act (LARR), 2013. The author uses the utilitarian fairness standard proposed by one of the most influential American constitutional scholars of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, Frank Michelman, whose study of judicial decisions from an ethical perspective by introducing the concept of “demoralization costs” has shaped the interpretational debate on takings law in the United States. Michelman’s analysis is particularly relevant for the land question in India today since there is a widespread feeling that millions of people have been unfairly deprived of their land and livelihoods. The chapter looks at the role of the Indian judiciary in interpreting the land acquisition legislation since landmark judgments affect the morale of society. It concludes that using Michelman’s standard would help in bringing about greater “fairness” than what the new legislation has achieved.

The Land Question in India

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Moral Economy ◽  
The State ◽  
Land Acquisition ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Ethical Implications ◽  
Tribal Communities ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Acquisition Processes ◽  
Land Question

This book takes a fresh look at the land question in India. It goes beyond re-engagement in the rich transition debate by critically examining both theoretically and empirically the role of land in contemporary India. Springing from the political economy discourse surrounding the classic capitalist transition issue in agriculture in India, the book gravitates toward the development discourse that inevitably veers toward land and the role of the state in pushing a process of dispossession of peasants through direct expropriation for developmental purposes. Contemporary dispossession may look similar to the historical process of primitive accumulation that makes room for capitalist agriculture and expanded accumulation. But this volume shows that land in India is sought increasingly for non-agricultural purposes as well. These include risk mitigation by farmers, real estate development, infrastructure development by states often on behalf of business, and special economic zones. Tribal communities (advasis), who depend on land for their livelihoods and a moral economy that is independent of any price-driven markets, hold on to land for collective security. Thus land acquisition continues to be a turbulent arena in which classes, castes, and communities are in conflict with the state and capital, each jockeying to determine the terms and conditions of land transactions or their prevention, through both market and non-market mechanisms. The volume collectively addresses the role of the state involved in the process of dispossession of peasants and tribal communities. It provides new analytical insights into the land acquisition processes, their legal-institutional and ethical implications, and captures empirically the multifaceted regional diversity of the contestations surrounding the acquisition experiences in India.

Socio-Economic Characterisation of Resettled Smallholder Farmers in Rural Zimbabwe

2021 ◽  
pp. 002190962110588
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Ndhlovu
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Land Reform ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Fast Track ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Exploratory Research ◽  
Reform Programme ◽  
Small Holder Farmers ◽  
Small Holder ◽  
Blind Spots

The socio-economic characterisation of resettled small-holder farmers under the Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP) in Zimbabwe has blind spots in relation to the emergent transformative social policy features such as ‘social cohesion’, ‘cooperation’, ‘protection’ and ‘accumulation’ which are equally important among land beneficiaries. Using the Sangwe farm, this article departs from the conventional use of the political economy, sustainable livelihoods, human rights-based and neo-patrimonial approaches to experiment with the transformative social policy approach. Using both quantitative and qualitative data in an exploratory research design, the article shows that viewed from the transformative social policy approach, the FTLRP was neither a resounding success nor a complete disaster. The programme actually produced mixed results. The article thus, recommends the use of in-depth, ideologically free and neutral approaches in its analysis so as to reveal its detailed outcomes. Additional studies in which existing land reform policies can be considered in the collective efforts of improving the transformative agenda of the FTLRP across the country are needed.

The Capture of Traditional Leaders by Political Parties in Zimbabwe for Political Expediency

2020 ◽  
pp. 196-219
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Kurebwa
Keyword(s):  
Colonial Period ◽  
Modern State ◽  
National Union ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Traditional Leaders ◽  
Political Crises ◽  
Political Expediency ◽  
Democratic Change ◽  
Ruling Party

Traditional leaders have been at the centre of controversy from the pre-colonial to the post-colonial period. The recognition of traditional leaders by the ruling party Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU PF) in Zimbabwe has been controversial. Since 1999, the ZANU-PF government has been facing a serious political crises and an increasingly powerful opposition party (Movement for Democratic Change). Zimbabwe adopted a new Constitution in 2013 which, among other things recognizes the role of the institution of traditional leadership which operates alongside modern state structures. While recognizing the role and status of the institution, the Constitution strictly regulates the conduct of traditional leaders.

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