CATALYZING THE SOCIO-LEGAL
SPACE FOR ARMED CONFLICT:
LAND AND LEGAL PLURALISM IN
PRE-WAR LIBERIA

Report attached, published in 2008

Traditionally, the land tenure system in Southern Ethiopia may be characterised by patrilineal inheritance and virilocal residence. Young girls have very little influence over when and whom to marry. Further, they have to go to a husband that their clan or family has identified for them, meaning that they after marriage move to the home of their new husband and inherit no land from their parents. Bride prices and dowries are commonly used, and girls are seen as the property of the husband and his clan. This also implies that if the husband dies, his wife is still the property of his clan.

Preamble of Land Act: "Whereas, legislative reforms initiated from the Golden Throne have resulted in enactment and amendment of many laws for the benefit of the people of Bhutan, the Land Act of Bhutan shall stand testimony to the continued commitment and diligence of the Druk Gyalpo in his pursuit to promote the well-being of the Bhutanese people.

[via UN-HABITAT] Women’s equal rights to adequate housing, land and property are well elaborated under international human rights law but are often elusive in practice. This document is a reference guide to international human rights standards identifying both the substance of women’s rights as well as the commitments made by States with regard to improving women’s rights to adequate housing, land and property.

[via FAO] This report is based on the proceedings of the Technical Consultation on Gender, Property Rights and Livelihoods in the Era of AIDS, organized by FAO in November 2008. It takes stock of where FAO and its partners are in terms of addressing property rights insecurity and provides a proposed framework through which future action can take place.

Secure property rights are a critical component of economic development and social stability. Inappropriate property rights policies and institutional structures that are not synchronized with economic, political, and environmental realities can undermine growth, erode natural resource bases, and catalyze violent conflict.

The report is based primarily on a desk study of donor documents and it is divided in country-specific chapters.

This book is a cross-cultural endeavour to promote global strategies for enhancing security of tenure in the Muslim world. It addresses the gap in both the human rights and Islamic literature on land and property issues.

A wide-ranging valedictory lecture by the veteran radical land guru. Offers glimpses of the role of law in Tanzania’s jump from the frying pan of state nationalism into the fire of corporate neoliberalism. Argues that the creation of ‘free’ labour and of land as capital were central to the colonial project. Examines the changing status of customary titles and the series of Land Acts from 1999. Argues that De Soto’s current Mkurabita project will in effect mean registering large chunks of village land in preparation for their alienation through force, fraud, and corruption.

The effect of prime-age adult death and its consequences on access to land for the survivors has not been fully explored nor incorporated into policy regardless the fact that high adult mortality is now the lived reality in countries affected by HIV/AIDS, particularly in Africa. This paper explores the gendered relationships between adult death due to HIV/AIDS and changes in land rights for the survivors particularly widows. In many African societies, women have traditionally accessed land through marriage.

 Although the transition from centrally planned economy to market oriented economy has started almost 16 years ago, like many other former socialist countries, Mongolia is still experiencing significant social and economic changes currently.

[From UN-Habitat] Women’s equal rights to adequate housing, land and property are well elaborated under international human rights law but are often elusive in practice. This document is a reference guide to international human rights standards identifying both the substance of women’s rights as well as the commitments made by States with regard to improving women’s rights to adequate housing, land and property.