Intricate links: Displacement, ethno-political conflict, and claim-making to land in Burundi. Issue 109 (February 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Tchatchoua-Djomo, Rosine; van der Haar, Gemma; van Dijk, Han; van Leeuwen, Mathijs
• Is Part Of: Geoforum. Issue 109(2020)
• Page Start: 143
• Page End: 151
• Publication Date: 2020-02
• Subjects: Burundi -- Claim-making -- Displacement -- Ethno-political conflict -- Identity -- Land disputes -- Victimhood; Geography -- Periodicals; Human geography -- Periodicals; Regional planning -- Periodicals; Sciences de la terre -- Périodiques; Géographie -- Périodiques; Géographie humaine -- Périodiques; Aménagement du territoire -- Périodiques; Earth sciences; Geography; Human geography; Regional planning; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 304.205
• DOI: 10.1016/j.geoforum.2018.03.023
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0016-7185

Abstract

Highlights: In claiming land in Burundi, people tactically draw on victim identities. Land restitution policies reshape negotiations over entitlement and belonging. The framing of identities in claiming land adds to the ethno-political divide. Fixed identity categories in land restitution policies need to be problematised. Abstract: This paper explores claim-making to land in Burundi, where civil war and multiple waves of displacement and return have resulted in complex disputes over land. Zooming in on two different regions, the paper shows that, as people articulate their claims and defend their interests in land disputes, they strategically draw on a diversity of arguments, related to legal categories, notions of belonging and citizenship, social categories derived from (land) policy, but also victimhood, security concerns, and political loyalty. Post-peace agreement land policies play an important role in this, as they instrumentalise war-based categories of identity and victimhood, privileging certain groups of displaced people for political purposes. As we show in two case studies, claim-making tactics follow shifting political discourses and policy changes, as people seek to secure the support of (powerful) allies. A perspective on processes of making claims to land allows us to explore the entanglements between multiple waves of displacement, policy implementation and the instrumentalisation of identities in conflict-affected settings.