Opposed Sets of Collective Action in a Conflict Context: Land Rights in Darfur Jon Unruh McGill University
Darfur: Land rights are acute and a driving force of the conflict. The case is illustrative of armed conflicts where: Constituencies pursuing specific mixes of narratives and institutions, Produce sets of collective action about land, That become set against one another.
Resolving this is difficult because opposed narratives justifying: - How and why groups deserve access to land, - Or how groups were unjustly displaced or excluded from lands,..... become solidified in a conflict context.
Constituencies Portions of the population aligned with, and benefit from the actions of combatants, The immediate civilian support base for the armed factions and movements.
Constituencies participate in the conflict: Secondary occupants on land 'liberated' from their original occupants, Sources of recruitment, Sympathizers, Have relatives in armed factions, Provide shelter, cover, food, Are obligated to the armed factions, Have suffered at the hands of opposing factions Land, property, crop, livestock loss, diminished livelihood opportunities, loss of human life.
Of Interest: Narratives of Constituencies Narratives can be pushed in certain directions, purposefully; Local political actors know this, Warlords know this, Faction leaders know this, Sudanese government really knows this. UN, other international actors, slow to realize the potential; Ambiguity can be pushed in certain directions.
Darfur Conflict Opposed sets of collective action Broader population Constituency SLA Broader Broader Janjaweed Constituency Population population Narratives Institutions
Darfur Conflict Combatants do not just engage other combatants Broader population Constituency (IDPs, kin of deceased) SLA Broader Janjaweed Constituency Broader (Destitute Population Population (incl. govt) nomads, kin of deceased) They also engage members of the broader population, Pushing them into the constituency category. Adding strong aspects of revenge, retribution & desire to regain lands, to the constituency narrative.
Darfur Conflict Constituencies act against opposing constituencies & general population Close nomad migration routes Broader population Constituency SLA Broader Broader Janjaweed Constituency Population population Trample crops for grazing Further adding to the constituency category of each side
Darfur Central issue: the primary customary way of legitimately accessing land is fully open to some (farmers), but only partially open to others (nomads); The hakura tenure system originally emerged among farmers; Current use of hakura means claim to exclusive or mono-ethnic land rights and hence political power, with the two not separable.
Aggressively sought by groups (Arab nomads, agro-pastoralist) Who are without claim, in order to access new lands due to: population growth, rangeland degradation, drought, economic opportunity. The land/power claim
Grievance-based narratives As the non-hakura population grew so did grievance at having little political voice & land access within the hakura system. As a result three alternative forms of collective action (comprising mixes of narratives and institutions) emerged, Two of these occurred over time and gained considerable momentum prior the war, The third was a primary component in the war itself.
Three alternatives 1. Use a law stipulating that all unregistered land was government property & open to anyone to claim and register, 2. Assert 'all land belongs to Allah', allowing any Muslim to use it. 3. Violence-based dislocation & subsequent occupation, as part of a larger political equation, with encouragement & coercion from state authorities. (the Janjaweed were easily recruited for a reason) : BBC
The Alternatives Prior to the conflict the first two alternatives threatened the hakura system Resistance against these threats contributed to the rebel movement, Factions: JEM, SLA & variations, Constituencies: Affected members of sedentary tribes belonging to the hakura tenure system. The third alternative commenced after the start of the war, resulting in: Escalated armed conflict, Large-scale dislocation & loss of life. Factions: Janjaweed, Government forces, Constituency: Affected Arab pastoralists from North Darfur, Chad.
Rebel movements & constituencies (farmers) Institutions: Hakura tenure system, Customary law; Narrative: Arab pastoralists actively taking over land via statutory law, Islamic law & violence, Opponents: Janjaweed, Arabs & nomads supported by govt. forces Arab nomads are secondary occupants on lands belonging to agriculturalists, Needed: restitution, retribution, compensation.
Janjaweed & constituencies (nomads) Institutions 1970 Unregistered land act, Islamic law: all land belongs to Allah, Narrative Need: for land is acute, Did not get their own hakura under the prev. Sultanate or colonial system, Discriminated against during colonialism, Opponents: agricultural groups preventing them from participating in hakura system; International community condemns their aspirations, Deserve lands they liberate from agriculturalists. : BBC
The Conflict - Current Status International community (UNAMID, ICC) exert great pressure to bring accountability to the conflict, Intentionally influence narratives, Doha accord.
Emerging forms of collective action: (Ingredients) Constituencies know the dynamic is changing, IDPs (rebel constituency): Want to re-access lands in realistic way, Often know who the secondary occupants are, Pastoralists are familiar to the area. Secondary occupants (Janjaweed constituency), Comprise a wide variety of people and situations, Know they are on someone else s land, And want to position themselves in the coming new dynamic, Either seek rent, or will pay rent to IDPs.
Emerging forms of collective action: Secondary occupants are beginning to hedge their bets with IDPs, to improve their position & future prospects, Livestock & grain sales from IDP lands, during conflict proceeds go to IDPs, Keeping lands in known hands, until the conflict is over, IDPs express willingness to derive arrangements with secondary occupants: rent, sharecropping, As part of a reworked rural/urban livelihood
Can forms of collective action among opposed constituencies be changed from the outside? We know narratives & collective action can be encouraged toward war Ambiguity, narratives, can be coaxed in certain directions Providing potential for new forms of collective action (peacebuilding) to emerge, Different from peace negotiations Which occur among combatants