Christian Lund

Short presentation

I have a keen interest in discussions about the state and politico-legal institutions, and the ways in which social action produces public authority. My research focuses on property, local politics and state formation; in particular socio-legal processes of conflict over land and natural resources.

For close to two decades I have worked on land and politics issues in West Africa with a particular interest in local politics and conflicts over natural resources. My main work has been conducted in Niger, Ghana and Burkina Faso. I am currently commencing research on similar issues in Indonesia (Working title: Fragmented Sovereignty: Property, Citizenship and Territory in Southeast Asia)

Main works include Law, Power, and Politics in Niger – Land Struggles and the Rural Code (1998), and Local Politics and the Dynamics of Property in Africa (2008). Moreover, I have edited and co-edited Land Politics in Africa. Constituting Authority over Territory, Property, and Persons (2013), Propriété et citoyenneté en Afrique des villes (2013), New Frontiers of Land Control (2011), Politics of Possession (2009), Twilight Institutions (2007), and Negotiating Property in Africa (2002). I have published in journals such as Africa, Development and Change, Journal of Modern African Studies, Journal of Peasant Studies, and World Development.

CV

Link to CV