The law of the land
| DOI | 10.1177/0022343314522257 |
| Date | 01 July 2014 |
| Published date | 01 July 2014 |
| Subject Matter | Research Articles |
Research Articles
The law of the land: Communal
conflict and legal authority
Kristine Eck
Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University
Abstract
Common notions about the source of communal land conflict in Africa have long explained it as growing out of
conditions of environmental scarcity. This article argues instead that the institutional structure of the legal system
is central to understanding which countries are prone to experience communal land conflict. When competing cus-
tomary and modern jurisdictions coexist in countries inhabited by mixed identity groups, the conflicting sources of
legal authority lead to insecurity about which source of law will prevail. Because the source of law is contested, con-
flict parties cannot trust the legal system to predictably adjudicate disputes, which encourages the use of extrajudicial
vigilante measures. Using new data on communal violence in West Africa, this argument is examined for the period
1990–2009. The results show that in countries where competing jurisdictions exist, communal land conflict is 200–
350% more likely. These findings suggest that researchers should consider the role of legal institutions and processes
in relation to social unrest and collective violence.
Keywords
communal conflict, legal institutions, non-state conflict, West Africa
Introduction
Communal violence over land occurs throughout West
Africa.
1
At its most violent it has resulted in upwards
of 2,000 deaths in the space of a few weeks. The impli-
cations of such violence for civilians can be likened to
civil war: they can be victimized due to their ethnic
affiliation, internally displaced, and robbed of their live-
lihoods. Such violence undermines the authority of the
state to hold a monopoly of violence; it can further
entrench ethnic animosity and make the underlying dis-
putes even more intractable.
The foundations of many communal conflicts lie in
disagreements about land, particularly in West Africa.
These countries are some of the poorestin the world, with
the vast majority of the populationengaged in the primary
sector.
2
Land is a valuable good that is central to the dis-
tribution of power and wealth throughout the region
(Onoma, 2010).But while disputes over land are endemic
to the entire region, these disputes result in communal
violence in only some countries. The question that this
article addresses is: Why are some countries more likely
than others to experience communal violence over land?
I argue that the design of the legal institutions that
are mandated to adjudicate disputes over land are
1
The term communal violence indicates the occurrence of violence
between two communal groups that define themselves along
identity lines. I modify Melson & Wolpe (1970) to define
communal groups as being comprised of members who share a
common culture, identity, and means of communication and who
can encompass the full range of demographic divisions within a
wider society. I accept the expression of group membership set
forth by the groups themselves. Communal violence excludes
purely interpersonal conflicts and conflicts that involve the state.
Communal conflict, unless otherwise specified, is used as a synonym.
2
In 1990, West Africa had eight of the ten lowest ranked countries
on the UN Human Development Index (UNDP, 1990). West Africa
here includes Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Co
ˆte d’Ivoire,
Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania,
Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
Corresponding author:
kristine.eck@pcr.uu.se
Journal of Peace Research
2014, Vol. 51(4) 441–454
ªThe Author(s) 2014
Reprints and permission:
sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav
DOI: 10.1177/0022343314522257
jpr.sagepub.com
To continue reading
Request your trial