Land, Mobility, and Belonging in West Africa

[An] impressive book . . . Land, Mobility, and Belonging in West Africa deserves a wide readership, as it does much to improve our understanding of how property and belonging is established and contested under spatially and organizationally fluid circumstances. * Anthropological Quarterly * Careful research design and case justification, and probing of arguments with detailed empirical material, make Lentz's arguments compelling for political scientists as well as the social and economic anthropologists and historians who make up much of the natural constituency for this impressive study. * Journal of Modern African Studies * Lentz's work is Africanist ethnography and history at its finest and is a masterfully compiled piece of scholarship on issues of land rights, property regimes, and ethnicity in Africa. In wonderful ethnographic detail, the author presents a stimulating and historically rich treatment of ethnic group mobility and the ways in which different societies legitimate their land claims. This volume should be considered essential reading to all scholars working on the interface between land and identity in Africa. * Anthropos * [A] major contribution to the ethnography of the north of Ghana, an area seriously underserved in this regard . . . and to the ongoing national debate in Ghana about land ownership and the fiercely contested claims of autochthons and strangers.85.2 May 2015 * Africa * Lentz's work is distinguished by the intensity of its focus. Not soon is anyone likely to cover her chosen topic and place more thoroughly. * African Studies Review * This book makes an important contribution to the scholarship on the transformation of African concepts of land tenure. It shows that history and memory are important resources in conflicts over property and belonging. . . . The book adds to the recent debates on customary tenure by exploring the precolonial history of property claims. * Journal of West African History * This significant study enhances understanding of the dynamics of rural societies across the continent. . . . Highly recommended. * Choice * [This] book makes a remarkable contribution to the growing literature on mobility in Africa. Its emphasis on both the social and spatial strategies of West African agriculturalists makes it a highly recommended read for scholars and policymakers dealing with migration, mobility, resource management, and land conflict resolution in West Africa. * Journal of African History * A short review cannot do justice to a magisterial historical and contemporary (through 2001) account of processes of change and continuity. Rich in narratives, readers will be grateful for the attention to comparison, nuance, and detail. * American Anthropologist *

Carola Lentz is Professor of Social Anthropology in the Department of Anthropology and African Studies at Johannes Gutenberg University.

Preface Introduction 1. Pushing Frontiers: The Social Organisation of Mobility 2. Staking Claims: Earth Shrines, Ritual Power and Property Rights 3. Setting Boundaries, Negotiating Entitlements: Contested Borders and 'Bundles' of Rights 4. Ethnicity, Autochthony and the Politics of Belonging 5. History vs. history: Contemporary Land Conflicts in a Context of Legal and Institutional Pluralism Notes References Index