The chapter examines the role of forced displacement in increasing the demand for state intervention and expanding the size of the state bureaucracy in West Germany. It discusses the government elites’ strategies for dealing with the needs of expellees and receiving communities and reviews expellees’ ability to influence government policy. Statistical analysis is used to demonstrate that counties with a greater proportion of expellees to population had more civil servants per capita.

This Introduction has three objectives. The first is to situate this volume within the current phase of South Africa’s difficult engagement with land reform in particular and transformative constitutionalism in general. For this purpose, we characterise the recent debate on ‘Expropriation Without Compensation’ (EWC) and the political developments leading to the tabling, and failure, of the Constitution Eighteenth Amendment Bill. In section two, we begin with an account of the research project and conference that led to this volume and then review the book’s three-part structure and its individual chapters in relation to each other. While there are important points of convergence with regard to the contested assemblage of law, land reform and redistributive justice, there are also divergent views for probing further. In the third section, we respond to this challenge by addressing three interlinked issues that emerge from a transversal reading of the chapters, which we regard as central for the future of redistributive justice in South Africa. These are, first, the respective roles of the state, popular politics and the private sector in driving this project; second, the relative importance to be attached to productive and redistributive measures as building blocks of change; and third, the scale of the structural changes that are needed.

This chapter explores land reform and redistributive justice from the vantage point of the Karoo, a large, sparsely populated and marginalised area that constitutes some 40 per cent of South Africa’s commercial farmland, where major land-use changes are recalibrating the significance of this land both locally and nationally. Underpinning the discussion is a concern with the narrow framing of contemporary land debates in terms of land as redistributive justice, rather than one plank in a larger framework for social justice. The argument is not that the Karoo is typical of the country as a whole, or that the time for land reform is past. Rather, thinking through social–ecological changes here pushes one to scale down expectations of land reform while foregrounding other issues of concern. Five cross-cutting themes are highlighted: the scale of the Karoo; its challenging environment; current land-use changes; the small-town character of the region; and its multi-layered history. The chapter draws on recent research on land-use change and sustainable development in the region, concluding with a case study of land restitution and renewable energy in the small town of Loeriesfontein.

The transition from an apartheid state to one whose foundation is universal suffrage saw South Africa adopt multiple methods to signify transition from the one form of rule to the other. Such a transition involved, among others, the creation of truth commissions, the amendment of legislation and the promulgation of new legislation – a process collectively referred to as transitional justice. Despite the protections against the arbitrary deprivation of property, provided for in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa and other pieces of legislation born of transitional justice, there continues to exist a disparity in respect of who South African property law caters for and protects. Against this background, the South African Constitution and case law, this chapter engages the principle of transformative justice to interrogate the conceptions of ownership and property under South African property law. This chapter argues that the current conception of property and ownership serve to, inter alia, economically exclude a large number of South Africans whose property custodianship exists outside of the current conceptions of ‘ownership’ and consequently outside of the recognition of private ownership of land or property.

This chapter focuses on the experience of two vulnerable women and explores whether the transformative thrust, ultimately embodied in the property clause, has become a lived reality or whether it has remained a theoretical concept only. Relevant here is the Extension of Security of Tenure Act with respect to Mrs Malan and Mrs Phillips, and the role and function of land ownership compared to the rights of these two vulnerable persons. Whereas Mrs Phillips was initially successful with her informal occupational right and opposed an eviction application effectively, the Constitutional Court finally found in favour of the landowner. The eviction application was set aside by the Land Claims Court with respect to Mrs Malan, but was reinstated on appeal. Ultimately, case law analysis indicates that the binary, hierarchical approach to land ownership and ‘lesser rights’ continues to dominate property paradigms. The transformative thrust of the property clause has remained elusive, despite measures promulgated specifically to protect vulnerable occupiers. The chapter provides some suggestions as to how changes within the land reform context and the re-conceptualisation of property law may be approached. Ultimately, a transformed property system – in light of South Africa’s colonial and apartheid history – is also in the public interest.

‘Expropriation without compensation’ has crystallised in South African discourse into a symbolic rejection of inherited privilege, with calls for a constitutional amendment that presupposes a legal constraint on the property regime. The intentions of the lawmakers in the ‘property clause’ debates of the 1990s were to craft what I term a ‘mandate for transformation’. Yet the state has failed to override property owner interests in favour of the landless. Second, the battle over ‘expropriation without compensation’ since 2018 has not been about what is written in the Constitution. Third, the counterpoint to the fixation on state power to acquire property is the right of citizens to gain access to land on an equitable basis. This under-developed idea languishing within the property clause offers the basis for constitutional claims for a right to land. Inverting attention from state powers to enact reform to citizens’ powers to claim rights, it could serve as a focal point for emancipatory politics grounded in real struggles.

Three decades after South Africa’s first democratic election, the country remains the most unequal society on earth. This reflects in part the continuing legacies of apartheid, from access to land, education and employment opportunities to the inability to address the spatial design of apartheid cities and towns. While most agree that this reality continues to detrimentally shape the life opportunities of the majority of South Africans, there is increasing evidence that it is also undermining the post-apartheid settlement – whether in the form of public protests, corruption or simply increasing disillusionment with the political and constitutional order. Since market-led reform policies have clearly failed to produce the necessary redistributive justice required to address apartheid’s legacies, it is time to explore more interventionist options. This chapter proposes a transformational tax to address the legacies of apartheid and to provide the basis for a new social contract that will further the promise of South Africa’s 1996 constitutional order. In exploring this proposal, it employs a comparative analysis of global wealth taxes to reflect on the forms and purposes of a proposed transformational tax.

The Presidential Advisory Panel on Land Reform and Agriculture (PAPLRA) (2019) argued that ‘land reform must be oriented around growing the agricultural sector to foster economic development, and not purely be an endeavour to transfer land’. Land reform should contribute to rural standards of living and national economic growth. The chapter briefly examines the relative success of commercial agriculture in recent years, despite policy and climatic uncertainties. It then explores challenges faced in smallholder agriculture and argues that joint ventures and partnerships may be one effective route for intensification of production and enhancement of rural incomes. In a context where state funding and capacity is limited, involvement by commodity organisations and private sector groupings, as well as NGOs, provides a promising way forward. It is possible to expand opportunities for commercial agriculture at the same time as drawing on skills and capital for land reform. Inputs, marketing routes and connectivity are important elements in enhancing smallholder production. Examples are taken from sugar, wool, fruit and dairy schemes that have absorbed tens of thousands of participants.

The scarcity of land and resulting high prices have important implications for the prospect of industrialisation in Bangladesh. The situation is yet more complicated due to the weak land management system, which perpetuates land grabbing, high rent generation, and ineffective property rights. This chapter analyses the importance of a well-functioning land management in Bangladesh. It elaborates on the history of the policy reforms and the evolution of rules and regulations related to land administrative and management in Bangladesh and analyses institutional complexities in the current system of land management. It also explores how the SEZs initiative has emerged as an alternative management system and the complexities related to the acquisition of land for SEZs. This chapter shows that the institutional mechanisms of land acquisition and compensation are subject to a range of corrupt practices, which in turn create vested interests that resist change and a bias towards politically connected purchasers, or towards those willing and able to pay bribes. Such an environment is inimical to a good business climate and undermines the strategic economic purpose of the SEZs.

The scarcity of land and resulting high prices have important implications for the prospect of industrialisation in Bangladesh. The situation is yet more complicated due to the weak land management system, which perpetuates land grabbing, high rent generation, and ineffective property rights. This chapter analyses the importance of a well-functioning land management in Bangladesh. It elaborates on the history of the policy reforms and the evolution of rules and regulations related to land administrative and management in Bangladesh and analyses institutional complexities in the current system of land management. It also explores how the SEZs initiative has emerged as an alternative management system and the complexities related to the acquisition of land for SEZs. This chapter shows that the institutional mechanisms of land acquisition and compensation are subject to a range of corrupt practices, which in turn create vested interests that resist change and a bias towards politically connected purchasers, or towards those willing and able to pay bribes. Such an environment is inimical to a good business climate and undermines the strategic economic purpose of the SEZs.

The period from 1945 to 1960 was a mixture of the darker aspects of the time and the brighter aspects of the succeeding period. While there were disorder, division, and war, many of the conditions for the subsequent development were provided during this period. South Korea became an exception among the ex-colonies by escaping from socialism and being closely integrated with advanced capitalist countries. The country built a system whereby private enterprises faced workers with poor labor rights while carrying out the land reform. After the war, the growth rate was not impressive, as the prevalent government failure made it impossible to overcome the market failure. Yet import-substituting industrialization proceeded, through which chaebol emerged as a major player in the economy. The country implemented disinflation, enhanced education level, and began to promote exports, providing a condition for future growth, but the former two rather helped precipitate a crisis in 1960.

This chapter traces the complex trajectory of land tenure reforms in Benin since the democratic transition and liberalisation of the economy in the early 1990s. It shows that conceptions of the problem of land tenure insecurity and the responses to it have often clashed. Attention paid to sectors (rural vs urban) has varied as well as the timing and the nature of land tenure reforms. The solution of formal land titling propounded by international donor and local supporters has been considered by many as both inaccessible and unsuited to the needs of the majority of the population, hence the search for legal and institutional alternatives. This history of land reforms reveals intricate conflicts involving corporatist struggles, conflicts of interest between different stakeholders, and divergent social choices. It highlights the political economy dimension of land tenure problems and their instrumentalisation by some actors and competing public policy networks, the strengths and limitations of attempts to implement policy reforms, and the influence of donors in reform processes. It also questions the capacity of the intended reforms to modify practices and have enough inclusiveness.

This chapter looks at the publication of a series of books in Guangdong in the 1990s on the “Pine Hill incident,” a miscarriage of justice that took place during land reform (1950–1953) and directly implicated Tao Zhu, an important figure in the CCP’s post-Cultural Revolution pantheon of veteran revolutionary leaders. The process leading to the publication of these volumes – which, the chapter argues, should be understood as a form of moral rehabilitation – sheds light on the complex dynamics of research and publication on sensitive topics in the context of partial transition. The volumes’ author and his collaborators made effective use of institutions, policies, and discourses that emerged during the 1980s to overcome major obstacles to publication, but Tao Zhu’s prestige at the central level ultimately limited the extent to which facts relating to the Pine Hill incident could became part of the public record. The chapter thus illustrates both the way local narratives on party history could emerge in the post-Mao period and the limited ability of such narratives to challenge those of the Party Center.

Young would-be farmers in pre-war Japan needed land to till. They could borrow the money to buy it from banks, but the out-of-town staff at the banks lacked much information about who would make the best farmers. Alternatively, they could borrow from wealthy local families. These local elites knew the area and the people. Embedded in the network of community social ties, they knew which farmers were most conscientious and which lands were most productive. Should a farmer consider reneging on a contract, they had access to the networks that would collectively impose the sanctions necessary to encourage compliance. Although these local elites lacked the university education necessary to document court-enforceable security interests, leases let them advance the funds without elaborate documentation. Rather than lend the farmer the money and have him buy the land, they bought the land (if they did not already own it) and leased it to the farmer. If the farmer failed to pay, the investor evicted him from the land and moved on.

There are few issues in South African politics, culture and literature more resonant, more freighted, more emotive, than land. Chapter 5 begins by observing the ongoing centrality of land and ownership, especially in the wake of land reform programmes and populist shifts in political rhetoric. Novels by Anne Landsman, Marlene van Niekerk and Damon Galgut engage in detail with the crucial question of ownership, which is linked to race. They explore connections between the abject, labour and ownership, with the bodily and affective experiences shared by white women farmers and their brown or black workers being central themes of each novel. These novels struggle to articulate answers to the challenges of land reform, but they also foreground intimate gestures of recompense. In relation to the ethics of care, and the practices associated with love, they mark an important beginning of the conversation between the post-apartheid pastoral on the one hand, and land reform on the other.

This chapter analyses the main legal and political strategies used by the Landless Rural Workers’ Movement (MST) in its struggle for law and justice in Brazil. It explains why these legal and political strategies are pursued jointly, and the extent to which they may contribute towards making the law and legal system more sensitive to the claims and social struggles of these workers, particularly those related to the issue of land. It shows that access to law and justice presupposes a broad political process of social transformation. This includes the creation of more substantial forms of social justice and a developing awareness that the law contains many internal contradictions that may eventually be used in the interests of the socially oppressed classes. Social movements fighting for land reform have only become aware of this fact in recent decades but the knowledge has enabled them to supplement their political strategies (such as mass land occupations) with innovative judicial and legal strategies. The resulting interconnection between legal and political initiatives has momentarily strengthened the movement’s objectives, largely due to the intervention of the people’s lawyers, who have liaised between the state legal system and the social movement. In the course of this process, the hegemonic law currently in force has been put to the test.

This Chapter examines the tobacco industry in Southern Rhodesia and Zimbabwe within the context of global tobacco control regime, public health debates and the changing production factors between 1953 and 2000s. It discusses the role of the state and the tobacco lobby in entrenching the interests of the tobacco industry against the global pressures to reduce tobacco demand and supply and how this has shaped the country’s articulation of tobacco control measures and policies. The chapter further explores transitions in tobacco farming landscapes in post-land reform Zimbabwe and the implications for livelihoods, natural resources, social institutions and agrarian development.

Chapter 7 lays the foundations for the second half of the book, which focuses on the question of institutional persistence within and beyond conflict. It chronicles the road to political transition and peace in both Guatemala and Nicaragua. The chapter then examines a key difference between the two settings: the coalitional configurations that emerged from war. It provides an in-depth examination of how these dynamics played out within the three institution-level cases examined in the previous chapters. Specifically, it illustrates how the Moreno Network and Detective Corps in Guatemala laid the foundations of institutional survival by broadening the distributional coalition—the web of interest groups with a stake in the fraudulent customs arrangements and extrajudicial killing, respectively. Meanwhile, the FSLN’s transformation into the political opposition in Nicaragua following its 1990 electoral defeat resulted in persistent coalitional volatility, which bred chronic instability within postwar institutions.