How do people vindicate, assert, and secure claims to land? What at the outset might seem a straightforward question soon gets quite complicated when we realize that land tenure is a field where social and political relations are multifarious, overlapping, and competing. This collection of essays by prominent Africanists examines the negotiations and tactical and strategic maneuvers that Africans employ to secure their claims to land. The contributors depict a broad array of processes through which Africans pursue their interests. These range from relatively low levels of tension where people seek to preempt rival claims through assertion of "tradition" to open conflicts and disputes expressed formally in courts and other legal institutions.

By placing land tenure at the center of social relations in Africa, Juul and Lund underscore the inherent dynamism of African societies. African efforts to consolidate claims to land provide key windows through which we can see ongoing constructions and transformations of social relations within African societies. Anyone interested in understanding a vital aspect of African lives will find this collection absorbing and essential.