Property theory and land-use analysis: an essay in the political economy of ideas

This paper is concerned with one issue only. It argues that the development of adequate theory for social science research in Africa must be predicated on a proper appreciation of the social foundations of the conceptual and methodological tools we have inherited from Western or other bodies of social science. We need to do this in order to determine the suitability of these ideas to specific analytical tasks in our societies. The paper then proceeds to examine this argument in relation to law and land use analysis. The conclusion reached is that existing 'legal' and 'social' theories of law do not offer an adequate framework for the analysis of land relations in African societies. It therefore calls for more systematic investigation in this regard and, more particularly, the search for alternative forms of clarifying legal relations not only in the narrow sphere of land relations but more generally in society

Discussion of a food and nutrition policy for Kenya : (paper prepared for the United Nations World Food Conference- Rome, 5-16 November, 1974; Kenya delegation; item 9 (B) )

The paper was produced on request of the Head of the Kenya Delegation to the 1974 World Food Conference in Rome. It reflects the authors’ views on basic policies to improve the nutritional status of vulnerable groups in Kenya. The authors state that vulnerable groups in Kenya are the mothers and pre-school children of the low income groups in society. These can be found especially among "less progressive" smallholding farmers, further in communities living in semiarid and arid rural areas and among the urban unemployed or underemployed. The authors have reservation on feeding programs. They stress preventive measures which centre around a certain extent of self reliance in food production and most of all on income generating projects for the endangered groups. "Less progressive" oriented agricultural extension and appropriate technology are two measures considered important among others discussed. Programmes such as nutrition education, population planning and health are considered to assist in eliminating malnutrition. A priority system of policies related to nutrition (chart) is given as a short summary of the paper’s suggested approach to eradicate malnutrition

[En]gendering the norms of customary inheritance in Botswana and South Africa

The article responds to the article by Weinberg in this issue. She traces the trajectory of court hearings concerning the contested inheritance of land in Botswana, which, after several prior judgements eventually resulted in a positive outcome for the woman litigants. I acknowledge the author’s key argument, which concerns the impact of power relations on the construction of customary law and the reproduction of knowledge in the courts. Certain versions of “custom” were promoted and others stilled to the disadvantage of women. I argue that the normative patterns of landholding are indeed gendered, but do not result in a binary structure of men and women. “Gender” should be disaggregated to take into account a range of status criteria within and across the categories of male and female in order to understand the differential impact of social relations on the outcomes of property struggles. The normative lines of property transmission frequently follow a logic of “family property” that allows for qualifying women to rights of property. Family property has vastly different social and legal consequences to private, individualised property rights. The corollary is that it is misleading to speak of the processes of succession to rights of access to, and control of customary property in terms of one-to-one “inheritance” of land. The concept of “living law” inadequately reflects these social dynamics.IBS