Human relationship to the land from a legal perspective as a human and environmental security challenge

Abstract

In a context of global change, the human relationship to the land - comprising as well a connection to its natural resources - increasingly defines a key challenge to human and environmental security, which pertains to the socio-ecological unit (socio-ecosystem) of man to his environment. Indeed, from this relationship materializes an ecological dimension on which the humanity depends for its existence, well-being, health, and development. In other terms, human societies rely on a life-support, that is the land which forms the “territory” and the natural resources which sustain human lives. Current pressures on land, including the land grabbing phenomenon, that are growing worldwide and particularly in Africa, place the land issue at the heart of the human and environmental security (through many problems such as food insecurity and climate change induced displacements or ‘climate refugees’). This issue is even considered as one of the main drivers of many current and potential violent conflicts. The human relationship to the land and its resources, and the resulting consequences, depend on how they are supported by relevant laws. The reason is that land-related laws are not subject to a unique thought since they are plural and diversified worldwide. Based on this, and by perceiving legal systems in ‘paradigmatic’ terms, this chapter places side by side two exclusive legal perspectives on the human relationship to the land and its resources due to the cultural diversity which is still present and expressed worldwide despite the claims of the dominant discourse: In a first stage, the ‘property’ paradigm is thoroughly analyzed, allowing its foundations to come to the fore; this leads us to the second stage which deals with a ‘territorial’ paradigm constructed within a logic of social reproduction relating to the law of utilities (cultural, socio-cognitive, economic and political).