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NewsLeading internationalscholars of agrarianchange visit PLAASFour leading international scholars ofagrarian change will visit the Western Capein the first quarter of 2011. Henry Bernstein,James Ferguson, Bridget O ‘Laughlin andPauline Peters have undertaken research onrural social dynamics, processes of agrarianchange and related themes over many yearsin different parts of Africa. They are widelyrecognized for the powerful contributionsthey have made to scholarship.They were being co-hosted by the StellenboschInstitute for Advanced Study (STIAS).Discussions and debates between Februaryand April 2011 between the visitors and localscholars will focus on a number of interrelatedthemes, including: the characterand dynamics of rural poverty in Africa;processes of social change that are recomposingrural households and communities;customary law and women’s land rights;the evolution of agrarian structure in theSouthern African region; and the wider implicationsof such processes for policies ofland and agrarian reform.Together with a number of other localand international researchers, they willparticipate in a PLAAS/STIAS colloquium on“land reform, agrarian change and ruralpoverty in the Southern African region”on 8-9th March. From 15-16th March theywill contribute to a workshop on “gender,land rights and contested boundaries incustomary law contexts” being hosted bythe Law, Race and Gender Unit at UCT.They will also contribute to a seminar on“trajectories of global capitalism and theimplications for Southern Africa”, hostedby the Department of Sociology and SocialAnthropology at Stellenbosch University on22nd March.Bridget O’ Laughlin was Reader in Populationand Development at the Institute of SocialStudies, The Hague, until her recentretirement. Her PhD in Anthropology fromYale University, and undertook researchand teaching at the Universidade EduardoMondlane in Maputo, Mozambique from1979 until 1992, based in the Centro deEstudos Africanos and the Departmentof Economic Policy and Development.Her scholarship focuses on the politics ofgender, culture and class in social policy,and on gender, land, health, migration andagrarian change in Southern Africa. Sheis on the editorial board of Developmentand Change and the international advisoryboard of the Journal of Agrarian Change.Henry Bernstein is Professor Emeritusof Development Studies, at the Schoolof Oriental and African Studies (SOAS),University of London, and AdjunctProfessor in the College of Humanities andDevelopment, China Agricultural University,Beijing. He has taught and researchedat universities in South Africa, Tanzania,Turkey, China, France, the Netherlands,Canada and the USA, as well as the UK. Hisscholarship focuses on comparative politicaleconomy of agrarian change, land reform,social theory and development theory.Between 1985 and 2000 he was co-editor(with TJ Byres) of the Journal of PeasantStudies. From 2000 he was co-founder andco-editor (with TJ Byres) of the Journal ofAgrarian Change, of which he is now aneditor emeritus.Pauline Peters is Faculty Affiliate andSenior Research Fellow of the Centerfor International Development, HarvardUniversity and until recently taught inboth the Harvard Kennedy School ofGovernment and the Department ofAnthropology at Harvard University. She ison the international advisory board of theJournal of Agrarian Change.James Ferguson is a Professor ofAnthropology at Stanford University. Hehas a PhD in Anthropology from HarvardUniversity and has taught at the Universityof California, Irvine, where he alsodirected the Critical Theory Institute. Hisscholarship focuses on political economy,“development”, culture and power,systems of discourse and knowledge, labourmigration, poverty, and the theory andpolitics of ethnography. He serves on theeditorial or international advisory boardsof numerous journals, including CulturalAnthropology and Critical African Studies.Strategy workshop:Re-thinking ruraltransformation in SouthAfrica31 January 2011, Mandela/Rhodes Place inCape TownHosted by Foundation for Human Rightsin collaboration with Institute for Poverty,Land and Agrarian StudiesThe Foundation for Human Rights (FHR)and Institute for Poverty, Land and AgrarianStudies (PLAAS) hosted and convened acivil society workshop aimed at strengthenstrategic engagement around rural developmentand land reform in South Africa.The workshop helped developed new thinkingon these complex and contested issues,6 January 2011 A bulletin tracking land reform in South Africa
and contributed to more inclusive, openand participatory policy processes on ruraltransformation in South Africa. It created aspace for in depth content-oriented discussionswhile current policy proposals wereclarified and debated.The workshop took place in the context ofheated and controversial policy debates inthe media alongside a closed and increasinglyopaque policy process with the GreenPaper on Rural Development and AgrarianTransformation which is meant to beinformed by the Comprehensive Rural DevelopmentProgramme, (however it is notclear what the successes of this programmeare and the Green paper continues to bedelayed), the Land Tenure Security Bill thatwas released for public consultation in December2010, The Recapitalization and DevelopmentProgramme which replaces all‘development’ grants for land reform in abid to revive struggling land reform farms,and a host of suggested legislative reformsrecommended by the South African Law ReformCommission.ConferenceInternational ConferenceOn Global Land GrabbingThe phrase ‘global land grab’ has becomea catch-all phrase to describe and analysethe current explosion of (trans) nationalcommercial land transactions. Aroundthe world, various state, corporate andcivil society groups have reacted, albeit indifferent ways. Some see this as a majorthreat to the lives and livelihoods of therural poor worldwide, and so opposessuch commercial land deals. Others seeeconomic opportunity for the rural poor,although they are wary of corruption andnegative consequences, and so calls for theimproving land market governance featureprominently. Between these two extremesfor and against large scale land purchases/sales are a range of intermediate positionsoffered by other groups.PLAAS with the Future AgriculturesConsortium (FAC), the Institute ofDevelopment Studies (IDS) at the Universityof Sussex, and the Land Deal Policy Initiative(LDPI) in collaboration with the Journal ofPeasant Studies are hosting an InternationalAcademic Conference on Global LandGrabbing from 6–8 April 2011. Theconference starts off with a plenary, chairedby Ruth Hall and a keynote address will bedelivered by the UN Special Rapporteur onthe Right to Food. Different panel sessionwill be held discussing various aspectsof land grabbing, including: land rights,land title deeds, environmental mattersand ecological perspectives, governance,politics and participation, and the impacton livelihoods of pastoralists. www.futureagricultures.org/landgrab.htmlAppointmentsMr Langa Zita was appointed new Director-General in the DAFF in September 2010.Until his appointment, Mr Zita was SpecialAdvisor to the minister, focusing on policy.Mr Zita also held positions in the NationalAssembly:Dr Gaynor Paradza has joined PLAAS as aSenior Researcher. Dr Paradza completedher PhD entitled ‘Single Women, Land andLivelihood Vulnerability in a CommunalArea in Zimbabwe’, in June 2010 atthe Wageningen University in theNetherlands. Previously she was aSenior Researcher at the Centre forPolicy Studies. Her research interests liein gender and land tenure, livelihoodvulnerability, local governance, pro-pooragrarian land reform and grassrootsinnovations to secure women’s access toland in sub-Saharan Africa. Publicationsof Dr Paradza includes:• Paradza G. 2010. Single Women,Land and Livelihood Vulnerabilityin a Communal Area in Zimbabwe.Wageningen Publishers: Wageningen,the Netherlands. http://edepot.wur.nl/139210• Paradza G. 2010. Single Women’sExperiences of Livelihood Conditions,HIV and AIDS in the Rural Areas ofZimbabwe, in Anke Niehof, GabrielRugalema and Stuart Gillespie (eds)Dynamics and Diversity in sub-SaharanAfrica. Earthscan Publications Ltd:London.A bulletin tracking land reform in South Africa January 20117
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NewsLeading internationalscholars of agrarianchange visit <strong>PLAAS</strong>Four leading international scholars ofagrarian change will visit the Western Capein the first quarter of 2011. Henry Bernstein,James Ferguson, Bridget O ‘Laughlin andPauline Peters have undertaken research onrural social dynamics, processes of agrarianchange and related themes over many yearsin different parts of Africa. They are widelyrecognized for the powerful contributionsthey have made to scholarship.They were being co-hosted by the StellenboschInstitute for Advanced Study (STIAS).Discussions and debates between Februaryand April 2011 between the visitors and localscholars will focus on a number of interrelatedthemes, including: the characterand dynamics of rural poverty in Africa;processes of social change that are recomposingrural households and communities;customary law and women’s land rights;the evolution of agrarian structure in theSouthern African region; and the wider implicationsof such processes for policies ofland and agrarian reform.Together with a number of other localand international researchers, they willparticipate in a <strong>PLAAS</strong>/STIAS colloquium on“land reform, agrarian change and ruralpoverty in the Southern African region”on 8-9th March. From 15-16th March theywill contribute to a workshop on “gender,land rights and contested boundaries incustomary law contexts” being hosted bythe Law, Race and Gender Unit at UCT.They will also contribute to a seminar on“trajectories of global capitalism and theimplications for Southern Africa”, hostedby the Department of Sociology and SocialAnthropology at Stellenbosch University on22nd March.Bridget O’ Laughlin was Reader in Populationand Development at the Institute of SocialStudies, The Hague, until her recentretirement. Her PhD in Anthropology fromYale University, and undertook researchand teaching at the Universidade EduardoMondlane in Maputo, Mozambique from1979 until 1992, based in the Centro deEstudos Africanos and the Departmentof Economic Policy and Development.Her scholarship focuses on the politics ofgender, culture and class in social policy,and on gender, land, health, migration andagrarian change in Southern Africa. Sheis on the editorial board of Developmentand Change and the international advisoryboard of the Journal of Agrarian Change.Henry Bernstein is Professor Emeritusof Development Studies, at the Schoolof Oriental and African Studies (SOAS),University of London, and AdjunctProfessor in the College of Humanities andDevelopment, China Agricultural University,Beijing. He has taught and researchedat universities in South Africa, Tanzania,Turkey, China, France, the Netherlands,Canada and the USA, as well as the UK. Hisscholarship focuses on comparative politicaleconomy of agrarian change, land reform,social theory and development theory.Between 1985 and 2000 he was co-editor(with TJ Byres) of the Journal of PeasantStudies. From 2000 he was co-founder andco-editor (with TJ Byres) of the Journal ofAgrarian Change, of which he is now aneditor emeritus.Pauline Peters is Faculty Affiliate andSenior Research Fellow of the Centerfor International Development, HarvardUniversity and until recently taught inboth the Harvard Kennedy School ofGovernment and the Department ofAnthropology at Harvard University. She ison the international advisory board of theJournal of Agrarian Change.James Ferguson is a Professor ofAnthropology at Stanford University. Hehas a PhD in Anthropology from HarvardUniversity and has taught at the Universityof California, Irvine, where he alsodirected the Critical Theory Institute. Hisscholarship focuses on political economy,“development”, culture and power,systems of discourse and knowledge, labourmigration, poverty, and the theory andpolitics of ethnography. He serves on theeditorial or international advisory boardsof numerous journals, including CulturalAnthropology and Critical African Studies.Strategy workshop:Re-thinking ruraltransformation in SouthAfrica31 January 2011, Mandela/Rhodes Place inCape TownHosted by Foundation for Human Rightsin collaboration with Institute for Poverty,Land and Agrarian StudiesThe Foundation for Human Rights (FHR)and Institute for Poverty, Land and AgrarianStudies (<strong>PLAAS</strong>) hosted and convened acivil society workshop aimed at strengthenstrategic engagement around rural developmentand land reform in South Africa.The workshop helped developed new thinkingon these complex and contested issues,6 January 2011 A bulletin tracking land reform in South Africa
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