Workshop „Social Cohesion and rural transformation”

Our workshop offers a platform for knowledge exchange and discussions between junior and senior researchers as well as insightful inputs from empirical research and conceptual work on social cohesion, land governance and human security. We will also discuss related post-conflict challenges in the context of natural resource management, the role of customary practices, and look into large-scale land aquisitions of communal land.

Questions of social cohesion have gained increasing attention in academic discussions and policy circles in recent years. When it comes to land governance changes, social cohesion as well as human security have been shaped by these transformations, especially in conflict-affected environments. In this context, we want to highlight how emerging conflicts from land use changes or land reforms impact social cohesion and human security in communities and reshape the relation between residents and local/customary authorities or the state.

The workshop aims to discuss the following the questions:

• What are the drivers of social cohesion and how can we measure it?
• How are social cohesion and human security linked?
• How do customary or statutory land governance changes impact the constituents of social cohesion?
• In which ways do (contested) access to natural resources, large-scale land acquisitions, and gender dynamics impact social cohesion?
• How can new land laws be successfully implemented in consideration of human security and social cohesion?