ABSTRACT
Land grabbing – a process with long historical roots – re-emerged following the global financial crisis. This chapter argues that the governance of land deals is central. When conditions of consultation, transparency and compensation are adhered to, then positive benefits can be generated. But where land governance is weak, such deals benefit only a few, through processes of dispossession, exclusion and adverse incorporation. The chapter highlights the class, gender and other social relations underpinning agrarian change and the extension of capitalism through commercial agriculture. A political economy perspective is therefore vital if a more rounded assessment of land grabbing is to be achieved.
