The Politics of Possession

'When people or states assert control over land and its resources, how do they justify their claims? Cases in this original collection link competitive claims to a fractured politics. Its overarching analysis linking property claims with political legitimacy - and plurality of both linked to conflict - provides an important framework that is as good to contemplate at the most local setting as it is to the most global.' James Fairhead, University of Sussex 'Who gets to determine the legitimacy of claims and rights over property and resources? Any answer to this question must be sensitive to the varied forms by which societies organize and institutionalise access to and control over resources whether this be among peasant communities in Indonesia forests or in the slumworld of Mumbai or Lagos. But equally important is a full accounting of the forms of authority by which rights are conferred and relatedly how these forms of authority have limits and are invariably contested, fought over (often violently), disputed and reformed (even overturned). The ways in which authority, power and property are always inseparably linked strikes to the heart of Politics of Possession. Sikor and Lund have drawn together the leading theorists working on the property and natural resource question. The chapters are a brave and innovative mix of conceptual innovation, thick description and comparative insight. A pathbreaking and foundational book.' Michael Watts, University of California, Berkeley Access to resources is often contested and rife with conflict. This holds particularly true in societies characterized by normative pluralism such as post-colonial and post-socialist countries. Access and property are very dynamic because they are joined to questions of power and authority. The process of seeking authorization for property claims works to legitimize the authorizers, and the efforts undertaken by politico-legal institutions to gain legitimacy underpin and undermine various claims of access and property. This book includes some of the latest theoretical work on the dynamics of access, property and authority. Bringing the debate about access and property to speak to issues of power and authority, it also offers a thought-provoking approach to the study of everyday processes of state formation. Its contributions explore the politics of possession from a wide empirical compass of original research spanning Latin America, Africa, South-East Asia and Eastern Europe.