The recently concluded (24-27 March 2013) ?Land Divided? Conference ? a joint initiative of Stellenbosch University (SU), the University of Cape Town and the University of the Western Cape ? has been hailed a success.
?It was good that the three universities could join hands in this way,? one of the main organisers, Prof Cherryl Walker of SU?s Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology, said.
?This was not just an interdisciplinary academic conference, but one that bought together a large number of participants from civil society as well. We created a platform for a range of perspectives.?
The SU contribution to the Conference was led by Walker, along with the Land, Environment and Society in Africa (LESA) research programme within Graduate School of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.
The Conference succeeded in bringing together not only national and international scholars ?in different fields, including anthropology, sociology, history, law, agricultural economics, politics, literature and the visual arts, but also community-based organisations and NGOs working on land issues, along with government representatives.
An associated event, a major photographic exhibition on land curated by David Goldblatt, Paul Weinberg and colleagues, opened at the Iziko National Gallery as part of the conference programme.
Walker said that the way people relate to land as both economic and symbolic resource is extremely complex. It is therefore important that the debate is not reduced to overly simplistic nationalist narratives.
?The goal was to create an opportunity where participants could reflect on the legacy of the Land Act of 1913 and the many issues which, a century later, have not yet been resolved. We also wanted to broaden the focus beyond issues of immediate land reform policy and the very real challenges around land restitution and redistribution.?
The Conference was presented around four main themes: the legacy and meaning of the Natives Land Act of 1913; land reform and agrarian policy in Southern Africa; the multiple meanings of land: identity, rights and belonging; as well as land questions and the environment.
?Climate change is impacting on land use and human settlement, and it is important to look at the new challenges this brings. There was an excellent exploratory panel discussion on this issue. For some environmentalists and climate change experts this was the first time they had entered into discussions with the land reform research community, and vice versa.?
There were also a number of speakers from Southern and East Africa and further abroad.
?The comparative perspective on land issues elsewhere focused our attention on the fact that many of the problems around land claims and redistribution that we deal with and which we think are unique are in fact experienced in other countries as well.?
The Conference was also successful in that support from all three universities and donors allowed a large cohort of post-graduate students to attend and present papers.
?This gave younger and emerging scholars exposure to wider debates and a platform for their work, as well as the opportunity to hone their presentation skills. SU gave bursaries to 12 students to present.?
There are also a number of publishing possibilities which opened up around the Conference.
?Current land reform policy is hugely contested and there will be future publications around this, which will feed important research findings and inter-disciplinary analysis into the public domain.?
A number of academic journals have also indicated that they are interested in publishing special editions focusing on the Conference.
With 180 papers presented in five plenary and 40 parallel sessions over three days, the Land Divided Conference covered a wide range of topics. And as one attendee observed: ?What a pity there is only one of me and I cannot attend more than one parallel session at a time.?
For more information on the Conference (?Land Divided: Land and South African Society in 2013, in Comparative Perspective?) visit the website by clicking here: www.landdivided2013.org.za.
Source: http://blogs.sun.ac.za/news/2013/04/01/land-divided-conference-hailed-a-success/
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