What can we do to unlock the unrealised potential of the hundreds of millions of rural poor and landless workers? The ever-topical central theme in this collection of essays is the mixed role of government and the institutionally regulated market in tackling rural poverty and land distribution inequality. Drawing on over half a century of M. Riad El-Ghonemy’s academic and field experience in developing countries across Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and South East Asia, this is a comprehensive record of the late-twentieth century study of and struggle against rural inequality, seen through the eyes of one of its foremost observers. Containing a balance of in-depth field studies and El-Ghonemy’s personal observations from 1952 onwards, this volume provides the basis for discussion and debate on a range of developmental issues. Foremost among these is the appropriate approach both to explain the factors underlying developing countries' rural backwardness, and to enable them to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of halving the incidence of poverty and hunger by 2015. The compelling argument made here is that redistributive land reform, combined with non-farm intensive employment opportunities and investment in education within rural areas are necessary to tackle persistent poverty effectively. Anti-Poverty Land Reform Issues Never Die is essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students learning rural development and institutional and development economics. M.Riad El-Ghonemy is Senior Research Associate at the Department of International Development, University of Oxford and Research Fellow at the Department of Economics, the American University in Cairo, and Emeritus Professor, Ein-Shams University, Cairo. He is the author of several publications, including The Political Economy of Rural Poverty, Routledge (1990).

In Regulatory Property Rights: The Transforming Notion of Property in Transnational Business Regulation, editor Christine Godt generates fresh impetus for rethinking modern property theory. The book’s central theme is the transformation of property in response to societal changes brought about by internationalization, digitalization and new forms of collective action. The contributions sketch a vision of modern property, which grew out of 18th and 19th century ideologies. It operates in the modern multilevel system, and is not confined to the nation state. It is conscious about the broad range of functionalities of the title holder with regard to managing international supply and distribution chains and modern rationalities of the capital market, and at the same time acknowledges the legitimate interests of third parties and modern forms of governance.

The monograph studies the key aspects of land law of African countries, customary land tenure laws, customary rights to water, forest, cattle grazing; the influence of colonial epoch on customary land tenure systems, and the rights of African women to land. Characteristic features of land and water rights under Islamic law are provided. The current state of formal land law in the countries of North, West, Central, and East Africa is analyzed, including the following: the right of ownership to land and other natural resources, types of various rights to land and natural resources, and the relationship of formal law and customary land tenure systems. For students, graduate students and teachers of law schools, employees of legislative, executive and judicial authorities, as well as for all those interested in land, civil law and comparative legal studies.

Since the 1970s, the Egyptian state has embarked on a far-reaching and destabilizing project of economic liberalization, reneging on its commitments to social welfare. Despite widespread socioeconomic grievances stemming from these policies, class politics and battles over wealth redistribution have largely been sidelined from elite-led national politics. Instead, conflicts over identity have raged, as Islamist movements became increasingly prominent political players. Classless Politics offers a counterintuitive account of the relationship between neoliberal economics and Islamist politics in Egypt that sheds new light on the worldwide trend of “more identity, less class.” Hesham Sallam examines why Islamist movements have gained support at the expense of the left, even amid conflicts over the costs of economic reforms. Rather than highlighting the stagnancy of the left or the agility of Islamists, he pinpoints the historical legacies of authoritarian survival strategies. As the regime resorted to economic liberalization in the 1970s, it tacitly opened political space for Islamist movements to marginalize its leftist opponents. In the long run, this policy led to the fragmentation of opponents of economic reform, the increased salience of cultural conflicts within the left, and the restructuring of political life around questions of national and religious identity. Historically rich and theoretically insightful, this book demonstrates how the participation of Islamist groups shapes the politics of neoliberal reform and addresses why economic liberalization since the 1970s has contributed to the surge in culture wars around the world today.

What can we do to unlock the unrealised potential of the hundreds of millions of rural poor and landless workers? The ever-topical central theme in this collection of essays is the mixed role of government and the institutionally regulated market in tackling rural poverty and land distribution inequality. Drawing on over half a century of M. Riad El-Ghonemyâe(tm)s academic and field experience in developing countries across Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and South East Asia, this is a comprehensive record of the late-twentieth century study of and struggle against rural inequality, seen through the eyes of one of its foremost observers. Containing a balance of in-depth field studies and El-Ghonemyâe(tm)s personal observations from 1952 onwards, this volume provides the basis for discussion and debate on a range of developmental issues. Foremost among these is the appropriate approach both to explain the factors underlying developing countries' rural backwardness, and to enable them to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of halving the incidence of poverty and hunger by 2015. The compelling argument made here is that redistributive land reform, combined with non-farm intensive employment opportunities and investment in education within rural areas are necessary to tackle persistent poverty effectively. Anti-Poverty Land Reform Issues Never Die is essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students learning rural development and institutional and development economics. M.Riad El-Ghonemy is Senior Research Associate at the Department of International Development, University of Oxford and Research Fellow at the Department of Economics, the American University in Cairo, and Emeritus Professor, Ein-Shams University, Cairo. He is the author of several publications, including The Political Economy of Rural Poverty, Routledge (1990).

Land Reform Revisited engages with contemporary debates on land reform and agrarian transformation in South Africa. The volume offers insights into post-apartheid transformation dynamics through the lens of agency and state making. The chapters written by emerging scholars are based on extensive qualitative research and their analysis highlights the ways in which people negotiate and contest land reform realities and politics. By focusing on the diverse meanings of land and competing interpretations of what constitutes success and failure in land reform Brandt and Mkodzongi insist on looking beyond the productivity discourses guiding research and policy making in the field towards an informed view from below. Contributors are: Kezia Batisai, Femke Brandt, Sarah Bruchhausen, Nerhene Davis, Elene Cloete, Tariro Kamuti, Tarminder Kaur, Grasian Mkodzongi, Camalita Naicker, Fani Ncapayi, Mnqobi Ngubane, and Chizuko Sato.

A critical and detailed analysis of inequalities of world trade systems.

This volume synthesizes insights from the vast literature on land policy, taking due account of actual experiences in policy implementation, and suggests ways to design land policies that promote growth as well as poverty reduction.

M. Riad El-Ghonemy argues that if current trends in government-led and market based land reforms persist the rural poor population in developing countries will continue to rise.Based on nearly half a century of academic and field research this valuable work presents compelling evidence on persistent rural poverty, hunger and increased inequality in

Ending poverty and stabilizing climate change will be two unprecedented global achievements and two major steps toward sustainable development. But the two objectives cannot be considered in isolation: they need to be jointly tackled through an integrated strategy. This report brings together those two objectives and explores how they can more easily be achieved if considered together. It examines the potential impact of climate change and climate policies on poverty reduction. It also provides guidance on how to create a “win-win†? situation so that climate change policies contribute to poverty reduction and poverty-reduction policies contribute to climate change mitigation and resilience building. The key finding of the report is that climate change represents a significant obstacle to the sustained eradication of poverty, but future impacts on poverty are determined by policy choices: rapid, inclusive, and climate-informed development can prevent most short-term impacts whereas immediate pro-poor, emissions-reduction policies can drastically limit long-term ones.