A false promise? Regulating land-grabbing and the post-colonial state

Abstract

Since 2008, a global 'land rush' has been unfolding and so have efforts by international, national and regional actors to position themselves as the principal authorities in the determination of appropriate usages of land. This article examines three of the most influential 'soft law' instruments: the Principles for Responsible Agricultural Investment; the Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems and; the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure. Despite their substantive differences, all three documents share a specific form of state-centrism. They imagine the host state of such large-scale investments as internally unitary and externally independent and entrust it with the bulk of responsibilities regarding the management of land investments. However, I argue that this particular form of state-centrism obscures the legal and administrative realities of the post-colonial state that is often legally bifurcated and subject to pervasive forms of international authority. Rather, an appreciation of the multitude of actors who claim jurisdiction over the lands of the South enables a better understanding of the legal mechanics of land-grabbing. Sierra Leone, which has been positioned as a 'poster child' for the implementation of such 'soft law' instruments, serves as the focal point of this jurisdictional approach to land-grabbing. In this context, the promise of 'soft law' instruments to make the post-colonial state the guarantor of universally beneficial large-scale land acquisitions is shown to be a false one.