Doctoral Dissertation Research in Political Science: Claiming Land: Institutions, Narratives, and Political Violence

University Of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison WI

Investigators

Abstract

The forms of political violence during elections in Kenya range from intense urban riots and large-scale campaigns of displacement, to village-level cattle raids and property disputes. The dynamics of local-level violence generate the central overarching question of this project: Why has there been such significant variation in the incidence, intensity, and forms of political violence across Kenya since the onset of multiparty elections? Recent explanations of political violence focus on elections, state strength, ethnic identity, and the feasibility of rebellion. By contrast, this project suggests that variation in land tenure institutions is a crucial yet overlooked factor in shaping the occurrence and dynamics of political violence. Land institutions matter because they shape the politics of access, claim-making, and election-time patronage and coercion. This project explains the process of political violence as it unfolds at the sub-national level. Two specific questions guide the research. First, there is considerable variation in the types of land tenure relationships in Kenya--across geographic regions, between different ethnic groups, and within communities. Why do these diverse land tenure relationships provoke contentious land claims in some cases, while in many others, tenure relationships remain uncontested? Second, when and how do contentious claims to land become a mobilizing tool for political violence? Land narratives provide the causal mechanism linking variation in institutional relationships with variation in violence. They are stories that individuals, groups, and politicians use to talk about or frame issues of land and property, offering a language of group identification and strategic discourse for making claims to land. Narratives become contentious when two or more groups draw upon competing claims to land ownership, access, or the right to belong in a particular region or territory. Political actors use them as a tool to incite, mobilize, and recruit people to participate in violence. This project uses a micro-comparative study across a set of communities displaying variation in the strength of land tenure arrangements, collective narratives around land, and the incidence and forms of political violence. Based on a five-stage research design, it relies on interviews, analyses of land and human rights reports, a survey, and a national-level quantitative study comparing land titling with the patterns of violence across all districts of Kenya. This research contributes to three overlapping literatures on political violence, ethnic identities, and the politics of land and property in Africa. First, by using land as an explanatory category, the project integrates the role of institutions, collective perceptions of institutions, and the mediating role of elites in mobilizing violence. Second, this project demonstrates how institutions such as land rights can shape the political significance of ethnic identities. Third, by looking at variation in land tenure relationships, contentious narratives around land, and violence at the sub-national level, the project aims to make larger claims about patterns of violence across a range of conflict settings--from Cote d'Ivoire to Sri Lanka--where land claims, resources, and identities are interwoven themes of conflict and violence. The project has broader implications as well. A better understanding of the origins of political violence can inform policies aiming to foster peace and stability. The project can generate valuable insights for governments and international organizations working to manage land-related conflicts.