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From Reparations To Dignity Restoration: The Story Of The Popela Community., Bernadette Atuahene, Sanele Sibanda Jan 2018

From Reparations To Dignity Restoration: The Story Of The Popela Community., Bernadette Atuahene, Sanele Sibanda

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In certain circumstances property takings are part of a larger strategy to further subjugate a certain group within the polity by denying their humanity or their capacity to reason. These takings involve more than the confiscation of property; they also involve the deprivation of dignity. In her book, We want what’s ours: Learning from South Africa’s land restitution program, Atuahene has called these dignity takings. The Popela people are a resource-poor, but culturally-rich African community from South Africa’s Limpopo region that the colonial and apartheid regimes subjected to dignity takings. The post-apartheid state was interested not only in providing compensation …


Property Rights & The Demands Of Transformation, Bernadette Atuahene Jan 2010

Property Rights & The Demands Of Transformation, Bernadette Atuahene

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The conception of property that a transitional state adopts is critically important because it affects the state’s ability to transform society. The classical conception of real property gives property rights a certain sanctity that allows owners to have near absolute control of their property. But, the sanctity given to property rights has made land reform difficult and thus can serve as a sanctuary for enduring inequality. This is particularly true in countries like South Africa and Namibia where—due to pervasive past property theft— land reform is essential because there are competing legitimate claims to land. Oddly, the classical conception is …


Property Rights & The Demands Of Transformation, Bernadette Atuahene Jan 2010

Property Rights & The Demands Of Transformation, Bernadette Atuahene

Articles

The conception of property that a transitional state adopts is critically important because it affects the state’s ability to transform society. The classical conception of real property gives property rights a certain sanctity that allows owners to have near absolute control of their property. But, the sanctity given to property rights has made land reform difficult and thus can serve as a sanctuary for enduring inequality. This is particularly true in countries like South Africa and Namibia where—due to pervasive past property theft— land reform is essential because there are competing legitimate claims to land. Oddly, the classical conception is …


Legal Title To Land As An Intervention Against Urban Poverty In Developing Nations, Bernadette Atuahene Feb 2004

Legal Title To Land As An Intervention Against Urban Poverty In Developing Nations, Bernadette Atuahene

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One intervention intended to ameliorate poverty and its subsidiary effects is the distribution of legal title to land to poor urban dwellers, otherwise known as land titling. Given the billions of dollars that the World Bank, country-based development agencies, regional development banks, and developing countries themselves have spent on land titling programs, it has become one of the most important property law issues confronting the developing world. Several countries have undertaken comprehensive urban land titling programs to transform the dwellings of those who live in the squalor of squatter settlements into assets recognized by the formal sector. This Article accepts …