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ABSTRACT
Recent research has highlighted the conflict potential of both land deals and climate change mitigation projects, but generally the two phenomena are studied separately and the focus is limited to discrete cases of displacement or contested claims. We argue that research with a broader “landscape” perspective is needed to better understand the complex social, ecological and institutional interactions taking place in sites of land-based climate change projects (such as biofuel production or forest conservation) and large-scale investments (plantations or mines). Research that co-produces knowledge and capacity with local actors, and informs advocacy at multiple policy scales, will contribute better to preventing, resolving or transforming conflicts.
RÉSUMÉ
De récentes recherches ont souligné les conflits potentiels des transactions foncières et des projets d’atténuation du changement climatique. Néanmoins, en général, les deux phénomènes sont étudiés séparément et l’examen se limite à des cas distincts de déplacements ou de créances contestées. Nous soutenons que des recherches selon une perspective à l’échelle du paysage sont nécessaires pour mieux comprendre dans toute leur complexité, les interactions sociales, écologiques et institutionnelles qui se produisent sur les sites de projets d’atténuation du changement climatique terrestre (tels que la production de biocarburant ou la conservation des forêts) et sur les sites d’investissements à grande échelle (plantations ou mines). Ainsi, un travail de recherche qui coproduit les connaissances et les capacités avec les acteurs locaux, en plus d’orienter le plaidoyer à différentes échelles politiques, aidera à mieux prévenir, résoudre et transformer les conflits.
Acknowledgements
All authors are grateful for feedback on an earlier version of this work from participants in the conference “Land grabbing, resource conflict and agrarian-environmental transformations: perspectives from Southeast and East Asia”, held in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in June 2015. We also thank two anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful comments.
Notes on contributors
Carol Hunsberger is an Assistant Professor of Geography at the University of Western Ontario, Canada.
Esteve Corbera is a Senior Researcher at the Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology (ICTA), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, and a Research Associate at the School of International Development, University of East Anglia.
Saturnino M. Borras Jr. is Professor of Agrarian Studies at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) in The Hague, Netherlands, Adjunct Professor at China Agricultural University and a Fellow of the Transnational Institute.
Jennifer C. Franco is coordinator of the Agrarian Justice Programme of the Transnational Institute (TNI), a member of the TNI-Burma team and Adjunct Professor at China Agricultural University in Beijing.
Kevin Woods is MOSAIC Research Fellow for Myanmar, a doctoral candidate at University of California, Berkeley, USA, and also works for TNI in Burma on the intersection of land, drugs and investment.
Courtney Work is MOSAIC Research Fellow for Cambodia. Her research interests include the anthropology of religion, development and the environment, Southeast Asian political formations and flows of people and power in Southeast Asia.
Romulo de la Rosa is a Programme Officer at ICCO Southeast Asia Regional Office. His work focuses on conflict transformation and democratisation.
Vuthy Eang is the Executive Director of Equitable Cambodia (EC), an NGO in Phnom Penh that seeks to secure housing and land rights for the urban and rural poor.
Roman Herre is a policy adviser for land, agriculture and rural development of the German section of the international human rights organisation FIAN.
Sai Sam Kham is the Executive Director of the Metta Development Foundation in Myanmar.
Clara Park is a PhD candidate at ISS in The Hague, Netherlands, and Gender Officer with the Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific of Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO).
Seng Sokheng is the Executive Director of Community Development for Peace and Sustainability (CPDS), the host organisation for the Community Peacebuilding Network (CPN) in Cambodia.
Max Spoor is Professor of Development Studies at ISS in The Hague, Netherlands.
Shwe Thein is Chair of the Land Core Group (LCG) in Myanmar, an organisation that promotes the land use rights of smallholders through research, land rights awareness training, legal aid and policy advocacy.
Kyaw Thu Aung is the Director of Paung Ku, a consortium designed to support Myanmar civil society through service delivery, networking and advocacy projects to support poor and marginalised communities.
Ratha Thuon is a Senior Research Officer at Equitable Cambodia and a PhD candidate at ISS, The Hague, Netherlands.
Chayan Vaddhanaphuti is the Director of the Regional Centre for Social Science and Sustainable Development and Centre for Ethnic Studies and Development at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University.
Notes
1. This agenda has guided the design of the Mosaic project, titled “Climate change mitigation policies, land grabbing and conflict in fragile states: understanding intersections, exploring transformations in Myanmar and Cambodia” (www.iss.nl/mosaic). The examples from Myanmar and Cambodia draw on fieldwork conducted for the Mosaic project.