Overview

This is an original empirical and theoretical study of the use of law to secure land tenure in the face of poverty, urban and peri-urban growth and changing social structures. How easy is it to replace customary law with individual land rights?; is this the road to poverty reduction and capitalist development, as de Soto suggested in The Mystery of Capital? The result of a research project commissioned by the UK Department for International Development, this multidisciplinary book offers case studies from Botswana, Trinidad and Zambia, and analyses wider issues, including colonial legacies that create illegality in peri-urban areas; the impact of HIV/AIDS on social structure and inheritance; and land readjustment approaches in customary areas. The book will be of interest to academics and policy-makers in the areas of land law, law and development, geography, development studies, land economy and human rights.

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9781904385134

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Reviews

'The essays in this collection make a vital contribution to our understanding of land tenure reform by testing de Soto's thesis at local level. Multidisciplinary in nature, it draws on expertise in history, law, geography and planning to provide rare empirical evidence of the land problems facing dwellers of peri-urban areas of the developing world.' - Social and Legal Studies, An International Journal 'The essays in this collection contain rich empirical evidence of the limits of de Soto's thesis. They offer a forceful critique of de Soto's work and the project for privatization of land in the developing world of which it is a part. ' - Ambreena Manji, University of Keele, UK

'The essays in this collection make a vital contribution to our understanding of land tenure reform by testing de Soto's thesis at local level. Multidisciplinary in nature, it draws on expertise in history, law, geography and planning to provide rare empirical evidence of the land problems facing dwellers of peri-urban areas of the developing world.' - Social and Legal Studies, An International Journal 'The essays in this collection contain rich empirical evidence of the limits of de Soto's thesis. They offer a forceful critique of de Soto's work and the project for privatization of land in the developing world of which it is a part. ' - Ambreena Manji, University of Keele, UK

<p>'The essays in this collection make a vital contribution to our understanding of land tenure reform by testing de Soto's thesis at local level. Multidisciplinary in nature, it draws on expertise in history, law, geography and planning to provide rare empirical evidence of the land problems facing dwellers of peri-urban areas of the developing world.' - Social and Legal Studies, An International Journal<p>'The essays in this collection contain rich empirical evidence of the limits of de Soto's thesis. They offer a forceful critique of de Soto's work and the project for privatization of land in the developing world of which it is a part. ' - Ambreena Manji, University of Keele, UK

Author Information

Robert Home is Reader in Land Management at Anglia Polytechnic University. Hilary Lim is Principal Lecturer in Law at the University of East London.

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