Legal mobilization in large-scale based investments - Does it help affected communities?
Annette Schramm
The paper focuses on one way in which global regulatory frameworks in regards to large-scale land based investments are supposed to work: Through providing local actors with arguments and instruments through which they can defend their rights vis-à-vis investing companies (legal mobilization). So far, systematic research into this issue is missing. The paper will address this gap through providing a theoretical framework based on the concept of legal opportunity structure that includes both a top-down, institutional as well as a bottom-up, actor centered view. Applying the framework to Sierra Leone shows that both legal reform as well as practical opportunities have to be considered for improving the bargaining situation of local actors. Apart from supporting existing research, my findings create new insights: The role of legal assistance for local actors as well as the differences between companies in dealing with legal mobilization should be subject of further research.
Event: Land Governance in an Interconnected World_Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty_2018
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