Land, law and politics in Africa : mediating conflict and reshaping the state / edited by Jan Abbink, Mirjam de Bruijn.

Contributions in English or French.

"This project was envisaged as a testimony to the inspirational legacy of Professor Gerti Hesseling (1946-2009), the Dutch legal scholar and Africanist"--Introduction.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Includes bibliography of the works of Gerti Hesseling.

Introduction: Land, law and conflict mediation in Africa / Jan Abbink -- Partenariat et interdisciplinarite: la voie alternative de Gerti Hesseling et du LASDEL / Jean-Pierre Olivier de Sardan and Mahaman Tidjani Alou -- Cultural models of power in Africa / Walter van Beek -- Human rights in the traditional legal system of the Nkoya people of Zambia / Wim M.J. van Binsbergen -- 'Sons of the soil': autochthony and its ambiguities in Africa and Europe / Peter Geschiere -- How can Africa develop? Reflections on theories, concepts and realities / Patrick Chabal -- L'economie sociale et solidaire pour stimuler le developpement ascendant et endogene / Abdou Salam Fall -- Land conflicts in Senegal revisited: continuities and emerging dynamics / Mayke Kaag, Yaram Gaye and Marieke Kruis -- 'More punitive penalties should be given to urban farmers': laws and politics surrounding urban agriculture in Eldoret, Kenya / Romborah R. Simiyu and Dick Foeken -- Settling border conflicts in Africa peacefully: lessons learned from the Bakassi dispute between Cameroon and Nigeria / Piet Konings -- Democracy deferred: understanding elections and the role of donors in Ethiopia / Jan Abbink -- La production d'un nouveau constitutionnalisme en Afrique : internationalisation et regionalisation du droit constitutionnel / Babacar Kante -- Le juge constitutionnel et la construction de l'etat de droit au Senegal / Fatima Diallo -- Sur les traces du droit vivant dans le labyrinthe du droit foncier et des pratiques locales au Mali / Moussa Djire -- Effectuating normative change in customary legal systems: an end to 'widow chasing' in northern Namibia? / Janine Ubink -- Decentralization and the articulation of local and regional politics in central Chad / Han van Dijk -- Conflict mobility and the search for peace in Africa / Mirjam de Bruijn and Egosha E. Osaghae.

This volume presents a wide selection of studies on the issues of law, land dispute and conflict (mediation) in Africa, reconsidering the role of state agents and other actors in these matters. The focus is on analyzing how citizens, state institutions and concerned (inter)national actors aim to find solutions to disputes, tension and conflict that are part of social life. The authors have approached the subject of Land, Law and Politics in Africa from a variety of disciplinary angles. The issues at stake comprise land access and land use, state politics and democratization efforts, the relationship between constitutional/state law and customary law, the challenges of urban and rural conflicts, border issues and the conceptions of (human) rights. On the basis of new empirical studies, the authors plead for a more holistic perspective on the above issues and on developmental policy in general. The book has 15 chapters in four thematic parts, focusing on historical and cultural aspects of politics and authority; land law and land disputes; constitutionalism and politics; and conflict studies. The volume is also a tribute to the work of Gerti Hesseling (1946-2009), a Dutch Africanist with a successful career as a scholar of constitutional and land law, focusing on West Africa.