Publisher's Synopsis
How do people vindicate, assert, and secure claims to land? What at the outset might seem a straightforward question soon gets quite complicated when we realize that land tenure is a field where social and political relations are multifarious, overlapping, and competing. This collection of essays by prominent Africanists examines the negotiations and tactical and strategic maneuvers that Africans employ to secure their claims to land. The contributors depiot a broad array of processes through which Africans pursue their interests, ranging from relatively low levels of tension where people seek to preempt rival claims through assertion of "tradition" to open conflicts and disputes expressed formally in courts and other legal forums.
