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dear all,

for the upcoming conference of the IUAES Commission on Legal Pluralism (http://www.commission-on-legal-pluralism.com/) 8-10 September 2011 in Cape Town, South Africa, I'm convening a panel on resource claims and their discourses in relation to the authority of the state. Please find the call below. Deadline for abstracts is 1 March 2011.
regards,

Laurens Bakker

Contesting the state: natural resource claims and discourses of rights

Control over natural resources is subject to competition between multiple authorities in states worldwide. Throughout the region the burgeoning growth of sites of non-state authority has been well documented. Guerrilla movements, civil militias, community organisations and NGOs are just some of the many kinds of non-state agents whose authority contests or exceeds that of the state. Ethnic and religious identities frequently define the contours of communal relations maintained by these groups. Custom and tradition, often linked to the issue of control of land and natural resources, are offered as principles of local governance and provide a countervailing force to the authority of the state. Alternative authorities to state officialdom, as well as discourses of rights countervailing state hegemony, frequently concern sovereignty over land and natural resources. Armed conflict and the overt usage of violence are tried and tested methods of supporting such claims, yet discourses of non-state rights are frequently presented in more peaceful ways as well. Claims are formulated along lines of customary, national or international law and seek to counter state authority by contesting the legality –in its broadest sense- of its practices. As such, discourses contesting state authority, the social arenas in which sovereignty over land and natural resources is decided and the potential for violence, frequently combine to form powerful social processes of (communal) identity formation and of political mobilisation of such conflicts.
This panel seeks contributions that engage claims of rights to land or other natural resources and their potential to contest state sovereignty. We seek to explore the relations between identity, politics and rights as presented in these discourses, and come to grips with their meaning for understanding (the outcomes of) conflicts over land and natural resources between state and society.
Persons interested in contributing should send an abstract (500 words max) to:

Dr. Laurens Bakker
Institute of Anthropology and Development Studies
Institute of Sociology of Law
(0031)24 361 58 65
Radboud University Nijmegen
The Netherlands

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