In this study, we explore the power asymmetries and local resistance that shape a globalised land system.
In land system science, the globalisation of land use is often understood via trade flows. Fewer studies have explored the power asymmetries and local resistance that shape global connections. Consequently, calls for a deeper engagement with power and agency have been made within land system science. To accommodate this, we engage the ethnographic literature on encounters, emphasising the concepts of resistance and friction. These capture the ways actors position themselves in global systems, resist, and create global connections. To illustrate its relevance for land systems, we use qualitative data from the mining sector of Tanzania, highlighting the emergence of resource nationalism as an alternative form of globalisation (alter-globalisation).
Figure 1. Map of study area. From: (2022). Gold, friction and resistance in a globalised land system: the case of Tanzania, Journal of Land Use Science, https://doi.org/10.1080/1747423X.2022.2063958
Highlights
- We argue that a focus on resistance, friction and alter-globalisation can move land system science towards a deeper engagement with power and agency in global flows, revealing the competing actors, values and visions embedded in land systems.
- We show how frictions and resistance arise in encounters between actors, visions and agendas and come to shape global connections as well as local livelihoods in the mining sector.
- We argue that a deeper engagement with resistance, friction and alter-globalisations can help identify the winners and losers of globalised land systems and break with the neo-classical idea of globalisation as an external force.
- We show how to enable an engagement with a broader range of concerned actors, shedding light on the contested visions, desires and agendas.
Figure 2: Geita Gold Mine. From: (2022). Gold, friction and resistance in a globalised land system: the case of Tanzania, Journal of Land Use Science, https://doi.org/10.1080/1747423X.2022.2063958
Read the full article:
(2022). Gold, friction and resistance in a globalised land system: the case of Tanzania, Journal of Land Use Science, https://doi.org/10.1080/1747423X.2022.2063958
Featured Figure. A leftover machinery from colonial mining excavations in Nyarugusu, Geita. From: (2022). Gold, friction and resistance in a globalised land system: the case of Tanzania, Journal of Land Use Science, https://doi.org/10.1080/1747423X.2022.2063958