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THE STRATEGIC INSTRUMENTALIZATION OF LAND TENURE IN ‘STATE-BUILDING’: THE CASE OF JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 January 2013

Naseem Badiey
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Abstract

Debates over land tenure have been instrumental to state-building in South Sudan since the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). Focusing on the local dynamics of post-conflict reconstruction in the town of Juba, this article argues that amidst the political and institutional change inaugurated by the transition from war to peace, debates over land provided a basis for the negotiation of the South Sudanese state. Actors at a variety of levels employed competing interpretations of rights to land as state-building strategies – as tools towards promoting particular visions of the state and of citizenship.

Résumé

Les débats sur le foncier ont joué un rôle important dans la construction de l’État au Sud-Soudan depuis l'Accord de paix global signé en 2005. Centré sur la dynamique locale de la reconstruction post-conflit dans la ville de Juba, cet article soutient que les débats sur la terre ont servi de base de négociation dans le contexte de changement politique et institutionnel inauguré par la transition de la guerre à la paix. Les acteurs, à différents niveaux, ont employé des interprétations concurrentes des droits à la terre comme stratégies de construction de l’État, comme outils de promotion de visions particulières de l’État et de la citoyenneté.

Type
Research Article
Information
Africa , Volume 83 , Special Issue 1: Land Politics in Africa: Constituting Authority over Territory, Property and Persons , February 2013 , pp. 57 - 77
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 2013

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