He worked for several development organisations in East Africa and Latin America, conducted PhD research in Sudan, Burundi, and Guatemala, and lived and worked in Uganda. Mathijs van Leeuwen is a professor of conflict and peacebuilding at the Centre for International Conflict Analysis and Management (CICAM) and researches the role of land conflict and land reform in developing countries during peacebuilding. ‘Be careful with expectations of land registration as the key to peacebuilding. Keep an eye on the deeper roots of violent conflicts.’
You are a development sociologist specialising in conflict and peacebuilding in developing countries. So what exactly do you do?
‘I do research on the dynamics of conflict and peacebuilding, particularly around farmland in the African Great Lakes region. I examine how local conflicts are linked to larger political conflicts, and in what ways peacebuilding - measures to prevent a country from entering, remaining in, or regressing from a conflict situation - affects the relationship between citizens and local governments. In doing so, I regularly look at underlying assumptions that humanitarian, peace, and development organizations have in their interventions in conflict zones.’
Your research regularly focuses on land registration as one such intervention by development agencies. What exactly does land registration entail?
‘Land registration is literally registering pieces of land. Here in the Netherlands, we have a professional working system for that; the Land Registry. Things are different in African countries, where many people were once granted land by customary law by local rulers. Most of this land is therefore not registered with the government. The idea is often that a lack of recognition of rights by the government is a major source of uncertainty about the ownership of a piece of land, and that you can solve this by registering land.’
