NIFK15002U Property Matters - Resource Conflicts in Developing Societies
Property matters! Competition for landed resources is intense
virtually everywhere in the world today. Land and natural resources
are fundamental for societal development, and often for individual
livelihoods. Throughout history, access to and control over
resources have formed central issues of social organization,
economic growth, and political and legal control. This is no less
true today.
In developing countries many people are directly dependant on
access to resources for farming and other uses, and they are
therefore directly affected – in positive and negative ways – when
larger political and economic forces change the conditions on which
resources are accessed. Moreover, developing societies are
generally characterized by normative and legal pluralism. The
stakes are therefore often high.
We often talk about conflicts as ‘land conflicts’ but there is
always more at stake. It is never merely a question of land but a
question of property, and social and political relationships in a
very broad sense. Struggles over property are as much about the
scope and constitution of authority as about access to resources.
Claims, entitlements, and rights to resources are often contested
and rife with conflict, just as authority and ability to define and
enforce rules and rights regimes is struggled over by different
institutions. Questions about property are therefore central to
societal development and emerge in a wide variety of contexts, both
as objects of direct policymaking and legal regulation, and as
issues of power and politics in situations not controlled by any
government. Property, and struggles over it, cuts through most
social science disciplines. It is therefore important not to remain
enclosed within one single analytical perspective, but to
investigate how questions are framed and answered by different
disciplines.
The course will deal with a series of issues and processes related
to agrarian property questions in developing countries, including:
the nature of a ‘right’, complexity, formal and informal property,
exclusion, land reform, formalization, registration, evolution of
rights, conflicts, political and legal institutions, conservation,
land control, violence, territorialization, political movements and
new enclosures.
The course is relevant for MSc students of Agricultural Economics,
Global Environmental Governance, Geography, Anthropology,
Development Studies and other interested in the political dynamics
of property and law in developing societies.
Upon completing this course, the students should be able to:
Knowledge
Identify central actors, institutions, processes and norms involved
in the social production of property.
Identify and compare different cultural and regional manifestations
of property’s function in society.
Skills
Critically reflect on the concept of property and its different
forms in different - especially agrarian - contexts in the
developing world.
Understand and critically reflect on the multidimensional character
of resource conflicts.
Critically reflect on central characteristics of formal and
informal forms of property.
Competencies
Analytically connect resource conflicts to conflicts over
governance and state formation.
Account for and describe different political, legal, sociological
and anthropological approaches to the analysis of
property.
Required journal article and book readings provided on syllabus. Book chapters will be provided as pdf files to participants
The texts are a mix of theoretical and empirical texts, and the cases are predominantly from Africa, Asia and Latin America. The compulsory reading is approximately 875 pages. This ‘leaves room’ for students to also read some of the suggested texts. The course also includes a number of films (some in excerpts). I believe that the historical, political, cultural and economic complexity of land issues is best comprehended through the combination of different media. The format of the course is flexible, yet it requires a high level of student participation. I will presume that the texts are read and that participants are well prepared. It is a good idea to prepare a brief note for each text (what is the argument, what is good and bad about it, and how could it inform your work?) for your own purposes. Paul Edwards (University of Michigan) has written a small (8 p.) very useful piece on How to read a book. Find it on http://utminers.utep.edu/trcurry/howtoread.pdf We will discuss a range of issues on the basis of a short introduction from me.
- Category
- Hours
- Colloquia
- 32
- Exam
- 8
- Lectures
- 32
- Preparation
- 134
- Total
- 206
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- Credit
- 7,5 ECTS
- Type of assessment
- Written assignment, during the courseAssessment is based on a 1000 word written essay on a topic of the course. The topic(s) will be offered by the teacher during the course.
- Aid
- All aids allowed
- Marking scale
- 7-point grading scale
- Censorship form
- No external censorship
One internal examiner
- Re-exam
- Written essay
Criteria for exam assesment
Fullfilment of Learning Outcome is required to obtain the grade 12
Course information
- Language
- English
- Course code
- NIFK15002U
- Credit
- 7,5 ECTS
- Level
- Full Degree Master
- Duration
- 1 block
- Placement
- Block 1
- Schedule
- A
- Course capacity
- No restrictions
- Continuing and further education
- Study board
- Study Board of Natural Resources and Environment
Contracting department
- Department of Food and Resource Economics
Course responsibles
- Christian Lund (5-6b747d766c48716e7a7736737d366c73)