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Title Intricate links: Displacement, ethno-political conflict, and claim-making to land in Burundi
Full text http://edepot.wur.nl/446075
Date 2018
Author(s) Tchatchoua-Djomo, Rosine; Haar, Gemma, van der; Dijk, Han, van; Leeuwen, Mathijs, van
Abstract This paper explores claim-making to land in Burundi, where civil war and multiple waves of displacement and return have resulted in complex disputes over land. Zooming in on two different regions, the paper shows that, as people articulate their claims and defend their interests in land disputes, they strategically draw on a diversity of arguments, related to legal categories, notions of belonging and citizenship, social categories derived from (land) policy, but also victimhood, security concerns, and political loyalty. Post-peace agreement land policies play an important role in this, as they instrumentalise war-based categories of identity and victimhood, privileging certain groups of displaced people for political purposes. As we show in two case studies, claim-making tactics follow shifting political discourses and policy changes, as people seek to secure the support of (powerful) allies. A perspective on processes of making claims to land allows us to explore the entanglements between multiple waves of displacement, policy implementation and the instrumentalisation of identities in conflict-affected settings.
Subject(s) Burundi; Claim-making; Displacement; Ethno-political conflict; Identity; Land disputes; Victimhood
Language en
Type of publication Article/Letter to editor
Format text/html
Source Geoforum (2018); ISSN: 0016-7185
Rights Wageningen University & Research
Repository Wageningen - University of Wageningen
Added to C-A: 2018-04-09;09:49:19