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Struggles over Land and Authority in Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 October 2017

Sara Berry
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Abstract:

This article reviews major changes in policies and practices of land allocation and use in sub-Saharan Africa since ca 1990, using two comparative case studies to illustrate their implications for relations between local and national authority. One case contrasts Ghana, where intense local conflicts over land and authority did not translate into political conflict at the national level, with Côte d’Ivoire, where they did. The other compares political strategies and the influence of traditional chiefs in Ghana and South Africa.

Résumé:

Cet article passe en revue les changements majeurs dans les politiques et les pratiques d’affectation et d’utilisation des terres en Afrique subsaharienne depuis environ 1990, à l’aide de deux études de cas comparatifs qui illustre leurs implications dans les relations entre l’autorité locale et nationale. Un cas contraste avec le Ghana où des conflits locaux intenses des terres et l’autorité ne se sont pas traduits en conflit politique au niveau national et la Côte d’Ivoire où ils se sont produits. L’autre compare les stratégies politiques et l’influence des chefs traditionnels au Ghana et en Afrique du Sud.

Keywords

LandauthorityGhanaCôte d’IvoireSouth Africa
Type
ASR FORUM: Land Disputes and Displacement in Postconflict Africa
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 60 , Issue 3 , December 2017 , pp. 105 - 125
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 2017 

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