Presentation short abstract

The talk proposes the term commons grabbing as a wider concept than just land grabbing. It explains how and why people are migrating and exposed to climate change. Ethnographic data from research in Zambia and Senegal shows that debates on migration and climate change hide this process.

Presentation long abstract

The talk will highlight how the notion of 'commons grabbing', which is also relevant to peasant studies, could help us to understand the root causes of grounded political ecology. Long-term ethnographic research in Zambia and Senegal over the last 10 to 20 years illustrates how such processes are often overlooked when discussing land grabbing and local migration, and how they relate to structural violence concerning food security, conservation, and climate change adaptation. The selected research areas are previously resource-rich areas that were managed by common property institutions of peasants, as well as nomadic and hunter-gatherer groups, such as the Senegal River (Senegal) and the Kafue Flats Floodplain (Zambia). These areas were once managed by local common property institutions (rules and regulations), which created cultural landscape ecosystems. However, the analysis of these systems must go beyond the often apolitical debate on the commons (see the work of Ostrom omitting power reflections) and be analysed using theoretical approaches combining institutional theory and political ecology concerning structural (capital), discursive (development) and ontological (naturalist) power. This will help us to understand the root causes of institutional change from common to state and private property. The talk will argue that this is the basis for pushing people out of their areas, undermining their relationship with their cultural landscapes and their local climate change resilience. Migration is then one of the few ways in which peasants can diversify their strategies, as remittances from migrants also help to secure the commons and remain connected.