Land and social order in Middle Africa

This paper looks at the dialectical relationship of land and social order in Africa and its transformation since the 19th century. It argues that different legal and cultural frameworks always co-existed in most parts of the continent. The colonial state added to this diversity by implementing new models based on a Western image of statehood. These cleavages expanded further after independence. They deeply affected land use patterns and led to social conflicts that often surface as land conflicts. At a more theoretical level, the paper argues that land and society should be conceptualised as one. Land should not be thought of as a mere resource, but as an element of a thoroughly political discursive formation.