Attachment to land: Land Reform and the Anglican Church of Southern Africa

Abstract

The land and the people are inextricably linked and inter-dependent. Place attachment provides a useful lens through which to examine land reform and people’s attachment to land. Sebastien’s framework of place identity and place dependence is used to appreciate how place attachment is expressed in the ancient biblical texts of Psalm 37 and Matthew’s Beatitudes despite lack of ownership. In contexts of injustice, place attachment was able to provide hope for the disenfranchised. The framework for place attachment is further applied to the more recent context of land reform in South Africa. The lessons from appreciating place attachment and the complexity of land as more than just an economic tradeable asset can provide valuable lessons to the Anglican Church of Southern Africa in redressing some of the many injustices of the past by appreciating the complexity of land, contributing to the conversation, and assisting the poor and marginalised as they create opportunities for the sustainable development of church land as responsible stewards fulfilling the Gospel imperative.