Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Maps, Figures, and Tables
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Map 1 The Gold Coast, 1907
- Map 2 Regions of Ghana since 1983
- 1 Introduction
- 2 “This Situation Is Incongruous in the Extreme”: The History of Land Policies in the Upper Regions of Ghana
- 3 Who Owns Bolgatanga? The Revival of the Earthpriest and Emerging Tensions over Property
- 4 Seizing Opportunities: Chieftaincy, Land, and Local Administration
- 5 Settled Facts or Facts to Settle: Land Conflicts under Institutional Uncertainty
- 6 “Bawku Is Still Volatile”: Ethnopolitical Conflict and State Recognition
- 7 The Rent of Nonenforcement: Access to Forest Resources
- 8 Small Dams and Fluid Tenure
- 9 Conclusion
- References
- Index
9 - Conclusion
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 July 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Maps, Figures, and Tables
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Map 1 The Gold Coast, 1907
- Map 2 Regions of Ghana since 1983
- 1 Introduction
- 2 “This Situation Is Incongruous in the Extreme”: The History of Land Policies in the Upper Regions of Ghana
- 3 Who Owns Bolgatanga? The Revival of the Earthpriest and Emerging Tensions over Property
- 4 Seizing Opportunities: Chieftaincy, Land, and Local Administration
- 5 Settled Facts or Facts to Settle: Land Conflicts under Institutional Uncertainty
- 6 “Bawku Is Still Volatile”: Ethnopolitical Conflict and State Recognition
- 7 The Rent of Nonenforcement: Access to Forest Resources
- 8 Small Dams and Fluid Tenure
- 9 Conclusion
- References
- Index
Summary
“This history of mine,” Herodotus says, “has from the beginning sought out the supplementary to the main argument.” What you find in him are cul-de-sacs within the sweep of history – how people betray each other for the sake of nations, how people fall in love.
Michael Ondaatje, The English PatientOver the past decade or so, the interest in African land tenure has reemerged, with the international organizations and the World Bank as the most prominent actors (World Bank, 2003). In contrast to an earlier fine focus on market imperfections and the absence of private property, the ambit of concerns is now broadened to include historical evolution of property, political institutions, and customary rules among others. These are no longer seen as inherent obstacles to growth and tenure security, but as elements to take seriously in the institutional tinkering and engineering. The more comprehensive approach no doubt captures the complexity of property more adequately. However, this thinking privileges a perspective where institutions of public authority issue and enforce rules, and where rules condition behavior. My argument has been that it works both ways; behavior and rules also validate and recognize institutions.
Property and public authority are mutually constitutive and contingent. As a consequence, where land tenure is fluid and the range of public authorities considerable, landed property as well as political institutions become highly negotiable and the object of local politics.
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- Information
- Local Politics and the Dynamics of Property in Africa , pp. 174 - 182Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2008