Suchergebnisse

ABSTRACTRecent studies of democratization in sub‐Saharan Africa often focus on government recognition granted to traditional authorities. This article examines northern Ghana, where chiefs of a minority group are denied formal recognition but pressure state officials to recognize their status as land custodians. This leads to contests and debates between state officials, chiefs and communities over whether the customary institutions have in fact been recognized for what they claim to be. The article uses episodes of contention to nuance conceptualizations of recognition as a specific relationship between actors and institutions, and as a question of government policy or choice. Recognition and non‐recognition are contested in a grey zone of social constructions. Non‐recognition persists as a continuation of colonial policy, state law path trajectory, and state officials' endeavours to stay out of 'traditional' affairs. However, customary rights to land are validated by the new local government institution, and chiefs use newfound positions to expand their jurisdictions. Stakeholders affirm unequal social categories underpinning different understandings of recognition. The article examines contentions that hinge on interpretations of who is recognizing and not recognizing whom, and actors' efforts to reshape and reproduce political structures.

This article examines two different approaches to the political significance of networked technologies like the Internet. It considers Richard Kahn and Douglas Kellner's "critical/reconstructive" methodology and Jodi Dean's account of "communicative capitalism," and shows how the respective approaches are insufficient to elucidate the genuinely radical possibilities we may harbor for the Internet. The case study of "hypertextual databases" or "wikis" is used, both to contextualize the limitations of the above arguments and to present a more radical overture for thinking about network politics. I also utilize Ned Rossiter's concept of "organized networks" and show how these social-technical forms can provide a more radical proposition for thinking about the political possibilities of wikis. I proceed to translate wikis as specific kinds of organized networks that take us beyond a purely perfunctory language – whether as "information-rich data banks" or else animating the "fantasy of abundance" – and allow us to see them in a decidedly "political" way, as necessarily "incomplete" and thus eminently "rewritable" formations. This essay then concludes by examining the wider implications this "political" reading has for the way in which we understand the multiple situations of nascent forms of democratic politics.

Cover; Title Page; Copyright; Dedication; Contents; List of images; Acknowledgements; Introduction; Framing the study: the impromptu city; A brief outline of land law, government objectives and positions towards Old Fadama; Old Fadama: a political context of precariousness and uncertainty; Theoretical framework; Old Fadama as a case study; Conceptual and theoretical contributions; The wider context: urbanization and government dilemmas; Method considerations; Outline of the book; 1: Origins and destinations; A brief history of north-south divides

Old Fadama in Accra, Ghana is home to some 80,000 people and the country's largest informal settlement. All buildings and settlements in the densely populated site are also illegal following an eviction order against residents in 2002. Thus, not only are all without formal rights to the land, but the thousands of different dwellings, buildings, shops and small businesses that make up the site openly defy the judicial decision as well as the will of city authorities and successive national governments. This article explores the residents' mobilization to free up space for the construction of mosques inside the settlement. In the absence of any overarching regulatory bodies, accessing and control of land proceed through a diverse range of ad hoc exchanges. Residents give up land they tenuously hold individually, contribute with different resources, and voluntarily resettle in other areas of the settlement, where they gain and enjoy the recognition of a broader community. Theoretically, the article contributes to new areas of urban research by showing how informal citizenship and property rights are made contemporaneously at the grassroots level through micro-level exchanges and processes of social recognition, and which take place entirely outside the reach of regulatory authorities and politico-legal institutions. In support, it exemplifies that urban land-based developments are not only driven by urban policy agendas and formal state laws, but by their everyday, practical absence. This allows for 'alternative' temporal and spatial understandings of land and belonging to develop, which off set the precariousness of living in the informal and illegal settlement.

Ghana has been implementing a land administration reform since 1999. The Land Administration Project (LAP), an ambitious programme supported by donors, aims to strenghten land administration institutions and increase land holders' security of tenure on both state and customary land. This working paper reviews the literature on this land reform process, with a focus on issues related to gender. At first absent from the 1999 Land Policy, gender concerns were later incorporated into the project and a gender strategy was developed in 2009, with the goal to mainstream gender in land-related agencies and activities. Although donors have contributed to the gender strategy, the inclusion of gender equality has not been at the forefront of their priorities. At this stage no conclusive evidence has come to light with regard to the impact of gender mainstreaming on women's access to land and landownership, although an increase in female ownership and titling has been reported in some pilot areas. Most of the land in Ghana is held under customary tenure, and although some state laws, e.g. on inheritance, aim to regulate succession for spouses under customary marriages, they do not seem to have had much influence in the rural areas. Similarly, the impact of the reform in relation to landholders' insecurity of tenure due to multiple land sales, lack of or unclear boundaries, and issues related to chieftaincy disputes is difficult to assess. The role of the recently introduced Customary Secretariats, among other formal institutions, will be crucial and very interesting to observe, as these are an illustration of the wish of the government to work hand in hand with traditional authorities. In relation to this, this paper examines the shifts that have taken place in development policies with regard to both customary land tenure and gender. The land administration project in Ghana is indeed illustrative of how donor policies are advocating the recognition and involvement of traditional authorities as main actors in the reform's implementation. These policies have also recently taken gender issues into account. Although the impact or success of these policies is difficult to assess at this stage, as the reform is an on-going process, the evidence available shows that registration or titling is not always clarifying rights or simplifying the very complex tenure system in Ghana but exacerbates existing conflicting rights. It also shows that the recognition and involvement of traditional authorities may not be the panacea it is claimed to be, especially if left unchecked. Moreover, the recent inclusion of gender or the call for more attention to be paid to women's situation with regard to access to land shows that despite a progressive legal framework, gender equality is facing challenges in a context of entrenched discriminatory cultural and social practices. Donors and policy makers have so far paid limited attention to the issue of gender equality in their land administration reform efforts. Future research will be useful in examining how the gender mainstreaming of the LAP activities will address issues of land access and also, crucially, of land dispute settlement, for both men and women.

The volume challenges dominant narratives of progress with a rich range of investigations of local struggles from the Global south which are based on original ethnographic research. The chapters take a point of departure in ideas and concepts developed by the pioneering anthropologist Eric R. Wolf in 'Europe and the People Without History', and emphasize the relevance and usefulness of applying Wolf to contemporary contexts. As such, the collection contributes to knowledge of dynamic relationships between local agency in the Global south, and broader political and economic processes that make 'people without history.' This shows global power as both excluding local groups at the same time as conditioning local struggles and the forms that social organization takes. Contributors are: Paul Stacey, Joshua Steckley, Nixon Boumba, Marylynn Steckley, Ismael Garcia Colon, Inge-Merete Hougaard, Gustavo S. Azenha, Ioannis Kyriakakis, Raquel Rodrigues Machaqueiro, Tirza van Bruggen, and Masami Tsujita

Old Fadama in Accra, Ghana, is a vast informal settlement. A legalistic approach by successive governments has meant a near-absence of statutory institutions and the emergence of alternative public authorities. These endeavour to provide the area with a range of basic public services to solve the area's serious developmental challenges. Through processes of informal negotiation residents establish rights and social contracts that underpin and define what will constitute ideas of state and law. At the same time, self-governance emerges while relations with statutory institutions shift back and forth between vilification, tacit acceptance, and productive cooperation. The article contributes to studies of governance in informal urban settlements on two fronts. First, it shows how informal arrangements lead to the provision of basic public services and influence the workings of formal institutions of government. Second, it challenges facile understandings of large-scale informal settlements as generally chaotic, lawless or subversive. ; Old Fadama in Accra, Ghana, is a vast informal settlement. A legalistic approach by successive governments has meant a near-absence of statutory institutions and the emergence of alternative public authorities. These endeavour to provide the area with a range of basic public services to solve the area's serious developmental challenges. Through processes of informal negotiation residents establish rights and social contracts that underpin and define what will constitute ideas of state and law. At the same time, self-governance emerges while relations with statutory institutions shift back and forth between vilification, tacit acceptance, and productive cooperation. The article contributes to studies of governance in informal urban settlements on two fronts. First, it shows how informal arrangements lead to the provision of basic public services and influence the workings of formal institutions of government. Second, it challenges facile understandings of large-scale informal settlements as generally chaotic, lawless or subversive.

This working paper explores literature to establish the interrelationship between Large Scale Land Acquisition (LSLA) and pastoralists' climate change adaptation. The paper builds on a wealth of academic and policy literature that has emerged over the last decade, mainly concerned with the extraordinary growth of the LSLA phenomenon since the year 2000 and resultant contestation with indigenous communities. By adopting a climate change adaptation framing, the paper examines the opportunities and constraints that arise from LSLA's for pastoralism and pastoralists' climate change adaptation strategies. The paper finds that LSLA disrupts mobility, a traditional pastoral resilience strategy while precipitating a discursive space of contestation that may further constrain pastoralists climate change adaptation, or provide opportunities for pastoralists to assert rights for adaptation to impacts of climate change. This takes place through wide-ranging forms of negotiations around access to privatized pastoral lands, and by pastoralists tapping into contested visions of transformation mainly driven by governments and investors based on expropriation of extensive pastoral lands.

ABSTRACTMany large-scale land acquisition studies focus on the role of powerful transnational corporations, foreign and domestic governments. Instead, we shift the focus to the role of local actors, in this case, pastoralists in Samburu County, Kenya. Here, we apply the concept of 'intimate exclusion' and show that pastoralist elites' desire and ability to maximise productive and financial gains from customary land, coupled with their privileged understanding of land-related laws and regulations and ability to use or threaten others with violence, enables the control of extensive customary lands and the exclusion of weaker pastoralists. These processes, we find, are rooted in the country's capitalist development trajectory traceable to colonial rule. Overall, the paper highlights local 'homegrown' actors' role in large-scale land acquisition, how social intimacy provides space and opportunity for unequal benefits and how historical gains offer unique opportunities to gain from new political and economic developments.

Long Island Sound: Prospects for the Urban Sea is the first synthesis of the science of Long Island Sound in more than thirty-five years. Described by Daniel Webster as the American Mediterranean, four centuries of human habitation, use, and abuse have created a trajectory of change being duplicated in estuaries throughout the country. Now subject to coordinated restoration efforts, the fate of Long Island Sound is a harbinger of the fate of coastal waters and economies everywhere. Six technical chapters summarize our knowledge about the human history, geology, physical oceanography, geochemistry, pollutant history, and biology and ecology of Long Island Sound. The last chapter identifies the linkages between science and environmental management, drawing extensively from hard-learned lessons on identifying threats and implementing strategies to confront them. This synthesis will be of interest to anyone engaged in the conservation and restoration of coastal ecosystems: scientists, students, managers, planners, and environmentalists. "This massive, multidisciplinary synthesis is a welcome contribution to the understanding of Long Island Sound, providing not only new knowledge, but important information relevant to managers of coastal ecosystems. It will provide an extremely valuable resource for Long Island Sound for many years to come." Gene E. Likens Founding Director and President Emeritus Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, NY "Long Island Sound: Prospects for the Urban Sea" is a major new and timely contribution to the literature on one of the nation's most important estuaries. Prospects for all our estuaries are changing, primarily as a result of coastal development and effects associated with climate change particularly sea level rise and increased power of storm surges, rising temperatures and ocean acidification. This book provides valuable insights into understanding these impacts and into how to improve the prospects for the qualities and uses of Long Island Sound most important to society and to creating and maintaining a healthy, productive ecosystem. Many of the lessons are transferrable to other estuaries and coastal systems." Gene E. Likens Founding Director and President Emeritus Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, NY "Long Island Sound: Prospects for the Urban Sea" is a major new and timely contribution to the literature on one of the nation's most important estuaries. Prospects for all our estuari ...

While international agreements and legislation call for incorporation of four pillars of sustainability, the social (including cultural), economic and institutional aspects (the ⠀ human dimension') have been relatively neglected to date. Three key impediments have been identified: a relative lack of explicit social, economic and institutional objectives; a general lack of process (frameworks, governance) for routine integration of all four pillars of sustainability; and a bias towards biological considerations. Practical integration requires a systems' approach with explicit consideration of strategic and operational aspects of management; multidisciplinary or transdisciplinary evaluations; practical objectives for the four pillars of sustainability; appropriate participation; and a governance system that is able to integrate these diverse considerations in management. We challenge all involved in fisheries to immediately take five practical steps toward integrating ecological, economic, social and institutional aspects: (1) Adopt the perspective of the fishery as a system' with interacting natural, human and management elements; (2) Be aware of both strategic and operational aspects of fisheries assessment and management; (3) Articulate overarching objectives that incorporate all four pillars of sustainability; (4) Encourage appropriate (and diverse) disciplinary participation in all aspects of research, evaluation and management; and (5) Encourage development of (or emulate) participatory governance.