Land and Politics in Africa

Session Submission Type: In-Person Full Paper Panel

Session Description

Land is central to many important political phenomena in developing countries, including markets, identity, authority, and conflict. It can be a pivotal material asset or source of symbolic value, and is often both in these contexts. Control over land resources is therefore not only an important policy issue but is also frequently a source of political opportunity––whether for politicians, traditional leaders, investors, or citizens. Due to its connections to identities and political mobilization, many see land in Africa as a divisive resource that exacerbates tensions between groups and promotes division, rather than promoting pluralism and inclusion.

Our panel looks beyond this conception of land to better understand the institutions that govern it using a diverse range of methods and data across sub-regions, and from both urban and rural contexts. How do institutional and societal changes, such as economic development, liberalization, urbanization, or political reforms affect the complicated and consequential dynamics around authority and land in Africa?

Three of the papers explore how institutions shape policies and practices related to land distribution and administration. Alex Dyzenhaus analyzes the land redistribution program in South Africa and connects institutional variation in agricultural interest groups and markets to differences in land reform outcomes. Mai Hassan and Kathleen Klaus use county-level variation in the award of title deeds in Kenya to interrogate how local institutions enable or restrain women’s economic and political rights. Nicole Wilson explores the effects of customary control of land on development patterns, drawing on evidence from Lagos, Nigeria, to consider how the structural changes brought by urbanization shape the incentives of different actors. Looking at the consequences of land policy, Rorisang Lekalake examines the relationship between land loss and political attitudes in South Africa, in order to contribute to our understanding of the conditions under which redistribution policies are likely to generate public backlash.

Together, these papers enhance our understanding of the causes and consequences of contestation over land in developing democracies by addressing its value to elites and citizens alike. These insights are particularly timely given the role of mounting pressures from climate change on these resources worldwide in driving the threat of ‘land grabbing’ in the region.

Sub Unit

• Division 53: African Politics

Cosponsor

• Division 11: Comparative Politics

Individual Presentations

• Sweetening the Deal: Sectoral Determinants of Land Redistribution in South Africa - Alex Dyzenhaus, Cornell University

• Explaining the Gender Gap: Women and Land Titling in Kenya - Mai Omer Hassan, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Kathleen Klaus, Uppsala University

• The Politics of Urban Expansion: Evidence from Lagos - Nicole E. Wilson, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Chair

• Lauren Honig Boston College

Discussants

• Catherine Boone London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

• Sara Berry