Contested terrain : land reform and civil society in contemporary Zimbabwe

The African Institute for Agrarian Studies (AIAS) is a research and advocacy organisation based in Harare, Zimbabwe. In July 2005, it initiated a Civil Society Dialogue and Research Programme (CSDRP) to undertake research on land reform and civil society in contemporary Zimbabwe with the purpose: 1. to identify and examine the causal mechanisms underpinning civil society's involvement (or non-involvement) in land reform in Zimbabwe and in so doing to contribute to a better understanding of the complexities of land reform initiatives; and 2. to establish a more inclusive framework for participation in land reform in a manner that crosses the political and ideological divides presently besetting Zimbabwe. Contributions on: civil society and land reforms in Zimbabwe (Eldred Masunungure); public action towards a transformative agenda (Sam Moyo and Tendai Murisa); civil society, the state and the land question (Tendai Murisa); complexities within the land occupations (Wilbert Sadomba); war veterans and the re-emergence of housing cooperatives (Louis Masuko); the abandoned question of farm workers (Walter Chambati and Godfrey Magaramombe); the regressive stance of NGOs (Kirk Helliker); gender and land equity (Sunungurai Chingarande); the role of the church (Arkmore Kori); human rights and land reform (Solomon Sacco); and: expropriation, rights and liberties (Earnest Mudzengi). [ASC Leiden abstract]