Paper short abstract:

This paper analyses non-violent protests against large-scale land acquisitions in Sierra Leone. It examines the origins and forms of resistance; explores the links between local, national and international actors; and assesses their implications for conflict transformation.

Paper long abstract:

This paper identifies and analyses non-violent protests against large-scale land acquisitions in Sierra Leone. The study is situated in the context of an ongoing transformation of the rural environment: since 2007, vast tracts of the country's arable land have been up for sale on the international market. Weak regulation facilitated a series of rapid and opaque land deals, the terms of which are only recently entering into public awareness and debate. The investments are now beginning to restructure rural political economies, creating new opportunities and constraints for affected communities. They are also raising tensions and conflicts within communities, and between them and the governments and companies involved. From different perspectives, NGOs, land owners, land users and other stakeholders have called attention to and protested against injustices, suffering and inequalities related to the land deals. This paper investigates the responses of affected communities and the relationships between local, national and international agencies articulating and publicizing criticisms of the 'land-grabs'. It traces the diverse origins and forms of the protests, based on documentary sources, interviews and ethnographic research in an affected community. It considers their political significance, placing these new struggles in the context of histories of violent and non-violent activism in rural Sierra Leone, and assessing their implications for conflict transformation.