One of the earliest demands of Indian women’s organisations in the pre-Independence period was the right to be elected to legislative bodies. Yet, almost a century later, a vast gender gap persists in terms of women’s presence at all levels of governance. Why is it important to include women in political and policy decision-making bodies, beyond the issue of equality? Do women representatives necessarily represent women’s interests? Indeed, how do we define women’s interests and how can they be represented best? And how much presence makes for effective representation?

The rise of land deals poses unpredictable risks to war-torn societies, exposing them to the violent folds of the global economy. In Sierra Leone, commercial land leases have perpetuated the chieftaincy monopoly, further curtailed social mobility, and sparked particular resentment among youths and ex-combatants. Drawing on the concept of the “war machine,” I analyse how Kamajor militia fighters shape contestation against land deals and explore the attendant risks for remobilisation and conflict transformation.

This paper uses the case of South Africa’s latest land redistribution strategy known as the Proactive Land Acquisition Strategy, to explore whether, and how, research can have direct and positive impacts on beneficiaries of land reform. The study is situated within the practice of action research: to explore how it can generate knowledge that can be shared back and forth between stakeholders, as well as how it may ignite changes that the participants desire. The findings are that Proactive Land Acquisition Strategy is not meeting the overall goals land reform.