Competing claims over access to land in Rwanda: Legal pluralism, power and subjectivities

Abstract

In sub-Saharan Africa claims over access to land are often studied from the perspective of legal pluralism. This approach allows us to comprehend how, in pluralistic and post-colonial contexts, access to land is governed by interacting and competing normative frameworks, and by power relations legitimising some of those frameworks over others. But which power relations are we referring to? Through the analysis of a case of marshland grabbing in Rwanda, this paper first introduces different concepts from legal anthropology (arena, forum shopping and shopping forums, semi-autonomous social fields, practical norms and institutional bricolage) to analyse claims around land with a legal pluralism approach. Then, the paper points to the limitations of an actor-oriented approach to power relations proposed by the legal pluralism literature in terms of claims over access to land. Finally, we explore how a subjectivist approach to power, focussing on the ways people’s desires are influenced without them being fully aware of it, can enrich our understanding of claims over land access.