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Corporate Repertoires of Control and Performances of Power in a Contested Land Deal in Senegal

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 October 2021

Marie Gagné Open the ORCID record for Marie Gagné [Opens in a new window]
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Abstract

Farmland investments have attracted numerous entrepreneurs and companies to Africa in the past two decades. However, acquiring, retaining, and exploiting large-scale landholdings is more complicated than it seems. Investors need to persuade governments and populations of their anticipated benefits and limit dissenting voices when they emerge. Focusing on a contested land project in Senegal, Gagné develops the concept of “repertoires of control” to analyze the different performances of power that companies deploy to assert and legitimize their land claims. She argues that to survive, companies must continually adapt these performances to changes in the political environment of their host countries.

Résumé

Résumé

Les investissements dans les terres agricoles ont attiré nombre d’entrepreneurs et de compagnies en Afrique au cours des deux dernières décennies. Toutefois, acquérir, conserver et exploiter une propriété foncière à grande échelle est plus compliqué qu’il n’y paraît. À cette fin, les investisseurs doivent persuader les gouvernements et les populations de leurs bénéfices escomptés et contenir les voix dissidentes lorsqu’elles émergent. Examinant un projet foncier contesté au Sénégal, Gagné élabore le concept de « répertoires de contrôle » pour analyser les différentes performances de pouvoir que les compagnies déploient pour revendiquer des terres et clamer leur légitimité. Elle soutient que, pour survivre, les entreprises doivent continuellement adapter ces performances aux changements survenant dans l’environnement politique de leurs pays hôtes.

Resumo

Resumo

Nas últimas duas décadas, os investimentos em propriedades agrícolas têm atraído numerosos empreendedores e empresas para África. Porém, a aquisição, manutenção e exploração de terrenos de grandes dimensões é mais complicada do que parece. Os investidores têm de convencer os governos e as populações acerca dos benefícios futuros dos seus investimentos, bem como conter as vozes dissonantes sempre que estas se levantam. Partindo de um projeto agrícola que foi alvo de contestação no Senegal, Gagné desenvolve o conceito de “repertórios de controlo”, analisando as várias manifestações de poder a que as empresas recorrem para defender e legitimar as suas pretensões. A autora argumenta que, para sobreviverem, as empresas têm de manter estas manifestações de poder em constante adaptação às mudanças verificadas no ambiente político dos seus países anfitriões.

Keywords

Large-scale land acquisitionsland controlrepertoirespowerclaim-making performancesSenegal
Type
Article
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 64 , Issue 3 , September 2021 , pp. 675 - 703
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the African Studies Association

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