Through discussions with women across our land reform sites, the changing cultures of marriage, divorce, separation and the role of independent, single women were a subject of much commentary. With new marriage arrangements and timings, the classic old-style ‘conjugal bargain’ … Continue reading → …
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ZimbabweLand
Changing gender roles on Zimbabwe’s land reform farms
Gender roles are changing. Women have greater independence and can manage their own land and finances. This has implications for how farms are run, who can accumulate and the relationship between production and social production labour. While there have been … Continue reading → …
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How accumulation after Zimbabwe’s land reform offered independence for women
Land is important for women’s economic independence, social power and the organisation of social reproduction. Gaining access to land in the fast-track land reform areas has been important for establishing women’s financial autonomy, easing time poverty, enabling the education of … Continue reading → …
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How gaining access to land opened up opportunities for women following land reform in Zimbabwe
Land reform enabled some women to claim land. Gaining access to land, our informants explained, offered independence and autonomy. In our discussions across the sites, the connection between land access and ‘freedom’ was repeated again and again. The land occupations … Continue reading → …
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Social reproduction and land reform: introducing a blog series
While much analysis of land reform has focused narrowly on production (crops, livestock, and markets), this perspective risks overlooking the broader range of activities and relationships that sustain households and communities over time. Social reproduction refers to the maintenance and … Continue reading → …
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Zimbabweans abroad: Uber drivers in Cape Town
I am just back to Harare from a couple of months in Cape Town where Tapiwa Chatikobo and I have been writing up our project, Zimbabwe’s land reform after 25 years, getting to grips with overwhelming mountains of data. More … Continue reading → …
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Charms, potions and spirits involved in the management of livestock in Zimbabwe
During my long-term fieldwork in Matobo district there was constant discussion of supernatural beliefs concerning livestock. I have always been dismissive of these beliefs, thinking that they were just remnants of the past. How wrong I was! Supernatural beliefs about … Continue reading → …
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ICARRD+20 kicks off this week: can the challenge of redistributive land reform be addressed?
The International Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ICARRD +20) starts this week in Cartagena in Colombia, hosted by the Colombian government and technically supported by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation. The conference comes 20 years after the … Continue reading → …
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Livestock, climate change and land reform in southern Africa
How do livestock producers respond to climate change in land reform areas in southern Africa? A recent report from the Institute of Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS) at the University of the Western Cape in South Africa offers fascinating … Continue reading → …
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Rethinking with uncertainty: two new articles
Two open access articles have just come out that take the theme of ‘uncertainty’ and explore how it encourages some fundamental rethinking. First, ‘development’ as conventionally understood and, second, ‘critical agrarian studies’. They are published as part of two series, … Continue reading → …
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