More and more of global economic wealth and decision-making power rests with fewer and fewer people, while acute socio-economic inequities continue to afflict large rural communities in Africa, Latin America and Asia. Land inequalities remain a burning question for rural communities.

South Africa is a rapidly urbanising society. Over 60% of the population lives in urban areas and this will rise to more than 70% by 2030. However, it is also a society with a long history of labour migration, rural home-making and urban economic and residential insecurity.

Voices of Liberation: Archie Mafeje should be understood as an attempt to contextualise Mafeje’s work and thinking and adds to gripping intellectual biographies of African intellectuals by African researchers.

Democracy Compromised puts the spotlight on traditional authorities and addresses two main issues: first, how despite their role in the apartheid state, traditional authorities not only survived, but have won unprecedented powers of rural governance in South Africas democracy, and second, how they derive their authority. In this original and compelling study, Lungisile Ntsebeza carefully details the fascinating history of the chieftaincy in the Xhalanga area of the Eastern Cape. He shows how traditional authorities have been dependent on the support of the state since the advent of colonialism and how deeply traditional structures have been contested. Light is shed on the unexpected renaissance of these authorities under ANC rule and the role of traditional leaders in the process of land allocation is clearly explained.

This study of community-driven economic development is a collaboration between the human and natural sciences. The report investigates the  agricultural and economic success of the community-based Hertzog Agricultural Co-operative (HACOP) in the Kat River Valley. It looks at the influence of natural, social, tenure, historical and marketing issues on that development initiative.

South African agriculture has always been ideologically contested, because of its relationship with controversial land ownership issues. This book takes the question of farm workers fortunes beyond the land debate, to consider their current and future livelihoods. The book argues that the question of farm workers needs to be understood as part of a broader spectrum of economic and social questions. Where should farm workers live? Should rural-urban migration be encouraged? What kind of job prospects can be fostered? How can their participation in the rural and peri-urban economy be promoted? Do farm workers need land, or jobs, or municipal services? Who should provide support to this neglected segment of society?

Based on three village case studies from different parts of Kenya, this co-authored study explores the relationship between HIV/AIDS and land rights focusing on women as a socially vulnerable group. The study compares affected with non-affected households and HIV/AIDS emerges as a significant but not primary cause of tenure insecurity.

Aligned to the principle that development needs to start with what people know and build on their knowledge and experiences, the authors of this paper provide some examples of how important indigenous or local knowledge is to its users, different ways in which they use this knowledge, and the potential that indigenous knowledge has in some areas of agricultural development.

The restoration of land rights is a key factor in transforming post-apartheid South Africa. The Makuleke claim against the northern part of the Kruger National Park illustrates the complexities and competing interests involved in restoring land rights. The co-operative resolution of the claim offers a blueprint for other such disputes.

The extent to which indigenous people were dispossessed of their land by whites in South Africa under colonial rule and apartheid has no parallels on the African continent.

Coping with immigration and urbanisation in a rapidly globalising environment is one of the policy issues facing many governments, yet the complexity of migration makes it difficult for planners to understand its causes and plan for its consequences.

Popular belief is that urbanisation has increased substantially in the new South Africa, when, in fact, patterns of internal migration have remained static since the late 1970s. Internal migration patterns have been under-researched since the easing of restrictions in 1990. This study fills the gap drawing on census and other secondary data.