The establishment of an astronomy reserve around the core site of the Square Kilometre Array radio telescope marks the beginning of an epochal shift away from commercial sheep farming in the upper Karoo. In this article, I reflect on the significance of this 'astronomy revolution' by exploring the ways in which land is central to dynamics of identification, shaping...

The establishment of an astronomy reserve around the core site of the Square Kilometre Array radio telescope marks the beginning of an epochal shift away from commercial sheep farming in the upper Karoo. In this article, I reflect on the significance of this 'astronomy revolution' by exploring the ways in which land is central to dynamics of identification, shaping...

This article discusses contemporary agrarian transformation in southern Ethiopia from the perspective of how policies of agricultural commercialisation engender new patterns of rural social differentiation and politicisation of the land issue in the rural setting. By presenting a case of biofuels production through contract farming in Wolaita, the paper sheds light...

This article explores the emergence of land reclamation movements in contemporary southern Malawi through the case of the People's Land Organization in Thyolo. It shows that land reclamation movements are the result of a historical politics of land reform that has reproduced a dual agrarian system and shaped inequalities in land and labour since the colonial period...

This article contributes to the debate about land conflicts in Africa and explores how people and social groups claim, negotiate and legitimate access to land and local resources through the construction of political repertoires drawing on history. Empirically, the article discusses a historical land conflict in Thyolo, southern Malawi, and presents details about a...