From resolving land disputes to agrarian justice – dealing with the structural crisis of plantation agriculture in eastern DR Congo | Land Portal
Aggregated from the Journal of Peasant Studies

Resource information

Date of publication: 
December 2020
Resource Language: 
ISBN / Resource ID: 
10.1080/03066150.2020.1824179
Pages: 
309-334
Copyright details: 
Creative Commons Zero (Public Domain)

Land disputes in conflict-affected settings are often considered as a security threat, to be addressed through mediation and strengthening the rule of law. This overlooks the roots of land conflicts in longer-term processes of agrarian development and worsening conditions of land and labour access. A case-study of a dispute between former plantation labourers and concession holders in eastern DR Congo shows mediation's incapacity to counter perceived structural injustices in land access and difficulties in making a living. While dispute resolution may temporarily calm down tensions, it cannot substitute for fundamental political choices vis-a-vis wider questions of agrarian development and justice.

Authors and Publishers

Author(s), editor(s), contributor(s): 

Mathijs van Leeuwen, Gillian Mathys, Lotje de Vries & Gemma van der Haar

Publisher(s): 

Geographical focus

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