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Land conflicts in eastern DRC are frequently presented as stemming from a negative perception that 'autochthonous' might have of 'non natives', who are mostly former migrants from Rwanda. Seen from this perspective, the conflict is based on an anti-Rwandan (and especially anti-Tutsi) sentiment within the collective consciousness of the 'autochthonous' communities in the Kivus. However, this article demonstrates that similar dynamics of conflict can be identified within 'autochthonous' communities or in areas where there does not appear to be a 'rwandophone' presence. Without denying the political and economic competition that exists between the various ethnic groups in DRC, the alternative hypothesis advanced by this article links land disputes to three factors. Firstly, while they may pit 'autochthonous' and 'allochthonous' groups in the DRC against each other or indeed the 'autochthonous' among themselves, the land conflicts in the Kivus appear to consist primarily of a contestation of the existing institutional order. The disputes reflect the concerns of parties searching both for autonomy and for the establishment of a new form of governance and power distribution. Secondly, the current land disputes between autochthonous and 'rwandophones' are first and foremost a matter of local land control rather than a political problem. Finally, local land disputes have been politicized by elites and exacerbated by national policies. This politicisation and the role played by ethnic groups has contributed to the undermining of the relationships between the people of Kivu to such an extent that by taking over the kinds of discourse propagated by elites, communities have become involved in a conflict situation whose dimensions reach beyond the local context and which weakens both society and the Congolese state itself.

Land conflicts in eastern DRC are frequently presented as stemming from a negative perception that 'autochthonous' might have of 'non natives', who are mostly former migrants from Rwanda. Seen from this perspective, the conflict is based on an anti-Rwandan (and especially anti-Tutsi) sentiment within the collective consciousness of the 'autochthonous' communities in the Kivus. However, this article demonstrates that similar dynamics of conflict can be identified within 'autochthonous' communities or in areas where there does not appear to be a 'rwandophone' presence. Without denying the political and economic competition that exists between the various ethnic groups in DRC, the alternative hypothesis advanced by this article links land disputes to three factors. Firstly, while they may pit 'autochthonous' and 'allochthonous' groups in the DRC against each other or indeed the 'autochthonous' among themselves, the land conflicts in the Kivus appear to consist primarily of a contestation of the existing institutional order. The disputes reflect the concerns of parties searching both for autonomy and for the establishment of a new form of governance and power distribution. Secondly, the current land disputes between autochthonous and 'rwandophones' are first and foremost a matter of local land control rather than a political problem. Finally, local land disputes have been politicized by elites and exacerbated by national policies. This politicisation and the role played by ethnic groups has contributed to the undermining of the relationships between the people of Kivu to such an extent that by taking over the kinds of discourse propagated by elites, communities have become involved in a conflict situation whose dimensions reach beyond the local context and which weakens both society and the Congolese state itself.

This chapter analyses land conflicts and cases of land grabbing in Kalehe (Eastern DRC), a context in which competition for land is rooted in an atmosphere of violence and ethnic cleavages. By using three case-studies, we illustrate how, in a context of plurality of norms and rules in the land arena, the rights of the 'strongest' often prevail. Success or failure in acquiring land rights depends upon actors' capacity to efficiently instrumentalise the legitimacy of the Congolese army, of official state agents, and/or of local customary authorities. In its conclusion, the chapter puts into perspective the dominant conception of land grabbing, currently highly debated on the international agenda, by analysing how land conflicts are anchored in a broader context of political competition.

This chapter analyses land conflicts and cases of land grabbing in Kalehe (Eastern DRC), a context in which competition for land is rooted in an atmosphere of violence and ethnic cleavages. By using three case-studies, we illustrate how, in a context of plurality of norms and rules in the land arena, the rights of the 'strongest' often prevail. Success or failure in acquiring land rights depends upon actors' capacity to efficiently instrumentalise the legitimacy of the Congolese army, of official state agents, and/or of local customary authorities. In its conclusion, the chapter puts into perspective the dominant conception of land grabbing, currently highly debated on the international agenda, by analysing how land conflicts are anchored in a broader context of political competition.

D'aucun considèrent la guerre comme la cause majeure de la destruction Parc National de Kahuzi-Biega (Est de la République Démocratique du Congo) et que l'échec de sa cogestion serait lié aux conséquences de celle-ci. Sans récuser cette hypothèse, le présent article démontre le caractère incomplet et trop simpliste d'un tel argument en remontant en surface la place des facteurs structurels, politiques, techniques, démographiques et conjoncturels dans l'échec de la cogestion dudit parc.

D'aucun considèrent la guerre comme la cause majeure de la destruction Parc National de Kahuzi-Biega (Est de la République Démocratique du Congo) et que l'échec de sa cogestion serait lié aux conséquences de celle-ci. Sans récuser cette hypothèse, le présent article démontre le caractère incomplet et trop simpliste d'un tel argument en remontant en surface la place des facteurs structurels, politiques, techniques, démographiques et conjoncturels dans l'échec de la cogestion dudit parc.

This chapter analyses land conflicts and cases of land grabbing in Kalehe (Eastern DRC), a context in which competition for land is rooted in an atmosphere of violence and ethnic cleavages. By using three case-studies, we illustrate how, in a context of plurality of norms and rules in the land arena, the rights of the 'strongest' often prevail. Success or failure in acquiring land rights depends upon actors' capacity to efficiently instrumentalise the legitimacy of the Congolese army, of official state agents, and/or of local customary authorities. In its conclusion, the chapter puts into perspective the dominant conception of land grabbing, currently highly debated on the international agenda, by analysing how land conflicts are anchored in a broader context of political competition.

This chapter analyses land conflicts and cases of land grabbing in Kalehe (Eastern DRC), a context in which competition for land is rooted in an atmosphere of violence and ethnic cleavages. By using three case-studies, we illustrate how, in a context of plurality of norms and rules in the land arena, the rights of the 'strongest' often prevail. Success or failure in acquiring land rights depends upon actors' capacity to efficiently instrumentalise the legitimacy of the Congolese army, of official state agents, and/or of local customary authorities. In its conclusion, the chapter puts into perspective the dominant conception of land grabbing, currently highly debated on the international agenda, by analysing how land conflicts are anchored in a broader context of political competition.

This report analyses the involvement of these armed groups in public life in the territories of Kalehe and Walikale, which is the outcome of the intersection of a number of local historical processes with larger national and regional dynamics. The current political and military landscape in these territories, defined by the presence of armed groups and the consequent fragmentation of local authority, is mainly caused by unresolved tensions between and within communities over territory, authority and resources; the lack of capacity of the Congo's state services to provide protection; and the limited success of reintegration efforts. The report explores how these armed groups are embedded in local communities, how they are connected to local power struggles and how they are involved in the exercise of local authority, including in the fields of security, dispute resolution and revenue generation.

This report analyses the involvement of these armed groups in public life in the territories of Kalehe and Walikale, which is the outcome of the intersection of a number of local historical processes with larger national and regional dynamics. The current political and military landscape in these territories, defined by the presence of armed groups and the consequent fragmentation of local authority, is mainly caused by unresolved tensions between and within communities over territory, authority and resources; the lack of capacity of the Congo's state services to provide protection; and the limited success of reintegration efforts. The report explores how these armed groups are embedded in local communities, how they are connected to local power struggles and how they are involved in the exercise of local authority, including in the fields of security, dispute resolution and revenue generation.

Land conflicts in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo represent a challenge for rural development. Five years prior to the launch of a national land reform by the central government, the provincial government of North Kivu defended in its five-year program (2007-2011) a series of measures related to agrarian reform: harmonization of land tenures, land expropriation and landscape planning. Beyond the financial constraints advanced as the main cause of the ineffectiveness of the program, this article addresses the underlying causes of the North Kivu provincial government's failure to confront the demand and supply of institutional change with regards to agrarian reform. The analysis reveals a flawed planning system, built on a confusing vision of the kind of transformation applicable to the DRC's rural economy. Moreover, the agrarian reform program is accompanied by a defective budgeting that will hardly allow the executive to deal with the issue of agrarian reform. Apparently, policy makers adopted revolutionary language concerning agrarian reform that does not match the interests of the ruling government coalition, composed of party members at the forefront of the political scene. The paper concludes by demonstrating that despite the proposed responses, civil society on its own is simply incapable with its limits and constraints, to pressure policy makers into initiating a genuine agrarian reform. The peacebuilding and stabilization program which is being implemented by international organisations, outside state control, is also having a limited impact on land regulation and agrarian reform.

Land conflicts in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo represent a challenge for rural development. Five years prior to the launch of a national land reform by the central government, the provincial government of North Kivu defended in its five-year program (2007-2011) a series of measures related to agrarian reform: harmonization of land tenures, land expropriation and landscape planning. Beyond the financial constraints advanced as the main cause of the ineffectiveness of the program, this article addresses the underlying causes of the North Kivu provincial government's failure to confront the demand and supply of institutional change with regards to agrarian reform. The analysis reveals a flawed planning system, built on a confusing vision of the kind of transformation applicable to the DRC's rural economy. Moreover, the agrarian reform program is accompanied by a defective budgeting that will hardly allow the executive to deal with the issue of agrarian reform. Apparently, policy makers adopted revolutionary language concerning agrarian reform that does not match the interests of the ruling government coalition, composed of party members at the forefront of the political scene. The paper concludes by demonstrating that despite the proposed responses, civil society on its own is simply incapable with its limits and constraints, to pressure policy makers into initiating a genuine agrarian reform. The peacebuilding and stabilization program which is being implemented by international organisations, outside state control, is also having a limited impact on land regulation and agrarian reform.

Literature on transformations to sustainability increasingly recognizes transformation as inherently political, but the field still struggles to study these politics. Our research project 'Securing Tenure, Sustainable Peace?' on efforts to localize land registration in conflict-affected settings, both illustrates and contributes to understanding the politics of transformation. Building on insights from political ecology/economy, legal and political anthropology, and the anthropology of conflict, we analyse the politics involved in (1) the overarching policy discourses that legitimize these interventions; (2) the competition around these programmes; and (3) the outcomes, or the risks and contradictory effects of these programmes. We present insights that we consider relevant to develop better conceptualizations of the politics of transformations in sustainability studies more broadly. In particular, we draw attention to the tendency of de-politicization, which involves the hiding in technical formats of what are in essence political choices; as well as the need to give attention to institutional competition and to risks involved and unexpected outcomes of transformation.

During the COVID-19 crisis in Africa, several contradictory discourses have tried to predict how the continent will experience the pandemic. Based on a qualitative approach, this article goes beyond generalized and arbitrary predictions and analyzes how three countries in the Great Lakes region of Africa have managed the pandemic. We first analyze which measures the respective governments of the three countries – and their decentralized authorities – have taken. We also analyze up to which extend international prescriptions – as propagated by the World Health Organization – have influenced their choices. Second, we analyze how government measures have transformed throughout implementation and interacted with the specific circumstances of each context. Authorities, on the one hand, navigated between rigid and more flexible interpretation of national prescriptions, entering into practical arrangements or adopting force. Populations on the other hand have resorted to acceptance, circumvention, contestation or resistance. Our research ultimately points to the way in which political dynamics, resistance, violence, and local redefine both national policies and their international reference frames. In this way, the governance dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic in the African Great Lakes region provide a lens through which we can complexify our understandings of real governance in Africa.

Literature on transformations to sustainability increasingly recognizes transformation as inherently political, but the field still struggles to study these politics. Our research project 'Securing Tenure, Sustainable Peace?' on efforts to localize land registration in conflict-affected settings, both illustrates and contributes to understanding the politics of transformation. Building on insights from political ecology/economy, legal and political anthropology, and the anthropology of conflict, we analyse the politics involved in (1) the overarching policy discourses that legitimize these interventions; (2) the competition around these programmes; and (3) the outcomes, or the risks and contradictory effects of these programmes. We present insights that we consider relevant to develop better conceptualizations of the politics of transformations in sustainability studies more broadly. In particular, we draw attention to the tendency of de-politicization, which involves the hiding in technical formats of what are in essence political choices; as well as the need to give attention to institutional competition and to risks involved and unexpected outcomes of transformation.