Towards a better understanding of global land grabbing: an editorial introduction

Accumulation by securitization: Commercial poaching, neoliberal conservation, and the creation of new wildlife frontiers

“…Increasingly, political ecologists, among others, are turning to the related concepts of accumulation by dispossession and primitive accumulation to explain the overlapping processes of neoliberal biodiversity conservation, land grabbing, and green grabbing, that is, land and resource grabs with environmental ends (Borras et al, 2011;Brockington and Duffy, 2010;Corson and MacDonald, 2012;Fairhead et al, 2012;Hall, 2013;Igoe and Brockington, 2007). The conceptsÕ utility rests in their ability to capture a process whereby land and resources are enclosed and privatized and how this frequently leads to the dispossession of rural populations and concentrated accumulation of capital in the hands of a few.…”

“…Given such diversity of actors, partnerships, and appropriation strategies at play, moreover, the link between control and ownership over land can be complex if not tenuous. Control, which can be defined as Òpractices that fix or consolidate forms of access, claiming, and exclusion for some timeÓ (Peluso and Lund, 2011, 668), does not necessarily entail complete ownership or even enclosure and vice-versa Borras et al, 2011;Hall, 2011Hall, , 2013. In addition, the literature highlights how contemporary green grabbing and conservation-based accumulation by dispossession are enabled by the creation and sanctioning of new nature-based commodities, specifically forms of non-economic capital like carbon, wildlife, patents on life, and ecosystem services to be accumulated (Neves and Igoe, 2012).…”

Whose Decisions, Whose Livelihoods? Resettlement and Environmental Justice in Ethiopia

“…Other causes of displacement include natural disasters, violent conflicts, and environmental degradation. Transnational investments and the recent "rush for land" in the form of large-scale land transfers are increasing the likelihood of further displacement (Borras et al 2011). As there are differences in the causes of displacement, there are variations in the post-displacement plights and livelihood-reconstruction needs.…”

Understanding Chinese rural protests through a social movement lens: a study of the Wukan protest

“…By examining the phenomenon in Kenya (Klopp, 2000), South Africa (Hall, 2011), Zimbabwe (Moyo, 2000) and other developing counties (Greco, 2013), scholars argue that land grabs are a major threat to the lives and livelihoods of the rural poor because land means social status and a lifeline for poor rural households (Borras et al, 2011). Just like China, concerns over poverty, landlessness, food insecurity and environmental degradation have also sparked rural protests in these countries as a reaction to global land grabs (Safransky & Wolford, 2011).…”

“…Researchers have commonly employed the terms "land grab/grabbing" in describing both compulsory and market land acquisition in developing countries (see Borras et al, 2011;Borras & Franco, 2012;De Schutter, 2011;Hall, 2011;Schneider, 2011). This reflects the way such transactions frequently lack free, prior and informed consent by land-users, and is carried out corruptly without proper democratic participation (Borras et al, 2011). According to the World Bank (2011), 45 million hectares of land were acquired in 2010 around the world, of which 70 per cent was in Africa.…”