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Land, Law and History: Actors, Networks and Land Reform in Solomon Islands

Foukona, Joseph Daniel

Description

From the onset of the colonial era, land reform in Solomon Islands has focused on changing customary landholding arrangements so as to improve productivity and stimulate economic growth. Most land in Melanesia remains under customary tenure, which is broadly communal by nature and cannot be alienated without profound social disruption. Customary land, social relations, livelihoods, power structures, knowledge, identity and place are all inter-related in...[Show more]

dc.contributor.authorFoukona, Joseph Daniel
dc.date.accessioned2018-06-28T01:04:13Z
dc.identifier.otherb53507307
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1885/144607
dc.description.abstractFrom the onset of the colonial era, land reform in Solomon Islands has focused on changing customary landholding arrangements so as to improve productivity and stimulate economic growth. Most land in Melanesia remains under customary tenure, which is broadly communal by nature and cannot be alienated without profound social disruption. Customary land, social relations, livelihoods, power structures, knowledge, identity and place are all inter-related in Melanesian life-worlds. This complexity is still poorly understood by those promoting the view that customary land hinders development, and needs to be reformed in order to establish secure property rights and enhance productivity. Land reform has been on the Solomon Islands development agenda for more than a century. Its implementation has always focused on enacting land laws to facilitate the transition of customary land to private property rights regimes. This is founded on a development model based on economic premises that remain largely unchanged since the colonial period. This thesis draws on Actor Network Theory (ANT) as a frame to extend the analysis of land reform in Solomon Islands over a long historical trajectory. Using ANT as a frame in this thesis draws particular attention to the roles and networks of key actors in land reform. Land reform has often been reduced to questions of land registration and land recording. But in Solomon Islands, as elsewhere in Melanesia, the explicit focus in land reform narratives is on ‘unlocking the potential of land held under customary tenure’, because it is assumed that land is ‘locked up’ under custom. Such narratives are part of the global flow of ideas transmitted and translated by key actors. This thesis seeks to provide insights on the role of particular actors and their networks to explain why land reform has been a persistent challenge in Solomon Islands, from 1893 to the present, and how the challenges of land reform might be addressed in a more equitable and effective manner.
dc.format.extent1 vol.
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.language.isoen_AU
dc.publisherCanberra, ACT : The Australian National University
dc.rightsAuthor retains copyright
dc.subjectFrontier
dc.subjectDepopulation
dc.subjectWasteland
dc.subjectLand Reform
dc.subjectProperty
dc.subjectRegistration
dc.subjectRecording
dc.subjectCustom
dc.subjectHistory
dc.subjectAlienation
dc.subjectPerpetuate Estate
dc.subjectFixed Term Estate
dc.subjectLand Commission
dc.subjectActor Network Theory
dc.subjectModernisation Theory
dc.subjectLaw
dc.subjectDevelopment
dc.subjectCustomary Land
dc.subjectActors
dc.titleLand, Law and History: Actors, Networks and Land Reform in Solomon Islands
dc.typeThesis (PhD)
local.contributor.institutionThe Australian National University
local.contributor.supervisorBallard, Chris
local.contributor.supervisorcontactChris.Ballard@anu.edu.au
dcterms.valid2018
local.description.notesthe author deposited 28/06/2018
local.description.refereedYes
local.type.degreeDoctor of Philosophy (PhD)
dc.date.issued2017
local.type.statusAccepted Version
local.contributor.affiliationSchool of Culture, History and Languages, ANU College of Asia and the Pacific, The Australian National University
local.request.emailrepository.admin@anu.edu.au
local.request.nameDigital Theses
local.identifier.doi10.25911/5d51437ab81a7
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Access
dc.provenance11.2.20/ Made open access after no response to emails re: extending restriction.
local.mintdoimint
CollectionsOpen Access Theses

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