Examines the context of the reemergence of land reform and resource conflicts in Africa. This book emphasizes the need for an understanding of local histories, cultures and motivations if efforts to attain a just distribution of resources are to succeed. The case studies examine the links between state intervention and forms and modes of conflict.

Introduction by Bill Derman, Rie Odgaard & Espen Sjaastad; I CONFLICT & CUSTOM; Conflicts & the reinterpretation of customary tenure in Ghana by Kojo Amanor; Land tenure & land conflicts among the Kwanja, in Adamawa, northern Cameroon: 'our land is not for sale': by Quentin Gausset; Adaptability, identity & conflict mediation among the Hawawir in northern Sudan by Kjersti Larsen; II LAND REFORM, POLICY & CONFLICT; Negotiation access to land in West Africa: who is losing out? by Camilla Toulmin; Land tenure reform in a Namaqualand communal area, South Africa: contesting Komaggas by Poul Wisborg; Land reform & the rekindling of land conflicts in South Africa: rural women's access to land by Nancy Andrew; III LAND, IDENTITY & VIOLENCE; Land, identity & violence in Zimbabwe by Bill Derman & Anne Hellum; The authority of violence of a hunters' association in Western Burkina Faso: 'each bird is sitting in it own tree': by Sten Hagberg; Contested identities & resource conflicts in Morogoro region, Tanzania: who is indigenous? by Faustin Maganga, Rie Odgaard & Espen Sjaastad; The use & management of water sources in Kenya's drylands: is there a link between scarcity & violent conflict? by Karen Witsenburg & Adano Wario Roba.