ABSTRACT
Drawing attention to the role of power, this chapter discusses the power related sources of the expansion of governance by contract, starting with the general phenomenon and then turning to the specifics of the case of land grabbing. It explores the consequences of governance by contract for regulatory and institutional governance. Weber's definition of power as 'the probability that one actor within a social relationship will be in a position to carry out his own will despite resistance, regardless of the basis on which this probability rests'. The chapter deals with observations for land grabbing and tries to draw more theoretical insights on the general phenomenon from there. It delineates some ideas and arguments regarding the consequences of governance by contract for the distribution of power of actors and ideas, such as subsequent political contests. The chapter concludes by presenting a discussion of the consequences of governance by contract in land grabbing contexts for resource allocation and equity.
