Livestock livelihoods compromised: the dilemma of the Fast Track Land Reform and Resettlement Programme in Matabeleland South,Zimbabwe

This article attempts to unravel the rubric of livestock rearing in Southern Matabeleland in the aftermath of the Fast Track Land Reform and Resettlement Programme (FTLRRP). It also shows how livestock rearing has been placed high in livelihood rankings in this region. The article is based on a detailed ethnographic study of the impact of the FTLRRP in the decade 2000 to 2010 in Gwanda and Umzingwane districts, and is an extract of my PHD thesis entitled ‘Visible hectares, Vanishing livelihoods’. The broad argument of the thesis is that the land reform programme has achieved change of commercial land ownership patterns from ‘white’ to ‘black’ Zimbabweans. The programme however has not coupled that with the support necessary to improve the livelihoods of the majority of people in the region. One of the impediments is that the state-crafted ‘one size fits all’ resettlement model failed to take cognisance of the socio-economic and ecological conditions of different provinces in the country. Hence the argument in this article is that the FTLRRP could have improved livelihoods of people in this region if livestock rearing was given priority and support by the state.     

我国土地调控失灵的制度经济分析

中国城市化发展的直接后果就是大量农用地转化为非农用地,耕地资源日益减少.对此,中央政府加强了土地调控力度,严格保护土地资源.但地方政府有与中央不同的目标,而现有的土地产权制度为地方政府规避中央的调控政策提供了可能性.在梳理现代产权理论的基础上,深入剖析了土地产权的三重分割问题,即土地国有和"全民所有"的分割,所有者与管理者的分割,以及中央政府与地方政府的分割.地方政府实际上获得了管理和经营土地资源的直接权力,而又无需承担相应的长期后果.这一方面激励地方政府超常经营土地的行为,形成所谓"土地财政"现象;另一方面造成土地保护陷入集体行动困境.由于土地管制和市场调节双重失灵,尽管中央政府不断收紧土地闸门和信贷闸门,对土地开发市场的调控效果仍不明显,土地资源的低效率运用未见实质性改观,耕地保护压力仍然很大.     

关于城乡结合部土地资源的整合利用

城镇化是现代经济社会发展的必然趋势,土地资源作为稀缺资源,在城镇化发展中会涉及土地资源利用问题。目前在我国城乡结合部存在着土地资源紧张、交易市场较混乱,土地产权关系较模糊、资源配置欠科学,土地过度开发使生态环境恶化等问题。因此,在城镇化过程中合理利用土地资源,加强城乡结合部土地开发利用的法制管理;强化珍惜土地资源的观念,大力推进城乡结合部土地的科学利用;促进城乡结合部的生态环境建设;完善城乡结合部土地利用规划管理制度,从而促进城乡发展一体化的实现。     

Land grabbing or economic development? A modernisation debate enacted on Bugala Island,Uganda

ABSTRACT

Globally, the phenomenon of large-scale land leasing, or ‘land grabbing’, is the subject of increasing concern. At the heart of the criticism of this phenomenon is the debate over the most appropriate methods of achieving economic development within the context of a rapidly globalising world. This paper analyzes the process and outcomes of establishing an oil palm plantation on Bugala Island, Uganda. The author asserts that tensions over land use within Uganda reflect incompatible understandings of the relations between land and society and distrust amongst stakeholders. In this case, in spite of these incompatibilities and distrust, the plantation has resulted in positive results for both local land users and the national economy. Yet at the same time, it demonstrates a traditional approach to land use that ignores past injustice and does not recognise power differentials.     

论我国警察使用武力的宪法规制

警察使用武力是一项重大而特殊的国家公共权力,影响公民生命权等基本权利,理应受到宪法的规制,但警察使用武力的宪法规制问题却被普遍忽视,极少得到关注和研究。警察使用武力的宪法规制是警察使用武力法律制度的顶层设计,具有制约警察武力使用权和保障公民生命权的双重作用。警察使用武力的核心内容应当作为宪法保留事项,由宪法加以规制。世界上多个国家的宪法对于执法人员使用武力作出了直接、明确的规定,对我国具有借鉴意义。我国宪法规制警察使用武力的理想模式是:宪法在确认公民生命权并规定保障生命权的同时,将警察使用武力作为保障公民生命权的一项例外情形,并且明确设定使用武力的原则和情形。     

论商标权人的商标使用义务

在我国的商标注册制度下,实践中长期存在着“重注册、轻使用”的做法,商标恶意抢注、囤积现象严重。注册商标不使用不仅有违商标注册的目的,而且导致注册商标资源的浪费。而商标识别功能的实现,是以商标的使用为基础的。商标使用既是商标权人的权利,更是商标权人的义务。注册商标权的维持也往往以持续的商标使用为基础。为了保障商标使用义务的履行,需要通过规范义务不履行的法律后果,以督促商标权人真正地将注册商标投入使用。既让不使用的注册商标面临撤销风险,同时还应统一商标不使用的法律后果,对不使用的注册商标进行全方位的权利限制。以此,强化商标权人的使用义务,既是对我国商标注册制的纠偏,同时也是在制度体系上保障商标回归其真正功能。     

Decolonisation and comparative land reform with a special focus on Africa

Abstract

One of the principles guiding the establishment of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in 1963 was the need to eradicate colonialism and to ensure the total emancipation of African territories and its peoples. The African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights adopted in 1981 grants all peoples the right to self-determination, through which to freely determine their political status and pursue their social and economic development. The last two African countries to gain independence from apartheid and white minority rule, namely Namibia and South Africa, have taken different approaches to land and tenure reform. The year 2013 marked 100 years since the enactment of the Natives Land Act 27 of 1913 in South Africa that led to the indigenous majority population having access to only 13% of the land while the white minority had access to 87% of the land. The year 1913 is also the current cut-off point for recognising land claims. The South African government has recently taken initiatives aimed at improving the pace of land reform, which currently stand at 5% of the land being transferred to black South Africans against a target of delivering 30% by 2014. While the government has called for patience in this regard, some urgent intervention is required, lest South Africans lose patience and undertake land invasions on a sustained basis.     

Gender Differences in Land Inheritance,Schooling and Lifetime Income: Evidence from the Rural Philippines

This article examines the difference in lifetime incomes arising from parental preferences in the allocation of land inheritance and investments in schooling between sons and daughters in the rural Philippines. Sons are preferred with respect to land inheritance, receiving 0.15 additional hectares of land, while daughters are treated more favourably in schooling investments, receiving 1.5 more years of schooling. However, differences in both current and life-cycle incomes between sons and daughters are insignificant. This suggests that Filipino parents allocate intergenerational transfers to equalise incomes among their children, without sacrificing efficiency.     

News,Talk, Opinion,Participation: The Part Played by Conversation in Deliberative Democracy

Deliberative democracy can be defined as a political system based on citizens' free discussion of public issues. While most scholars have discussed deliberative democracy normatively, this study attempts to test the validity of a model of deliberative democracy through examining the interrelationships among its four components: newsmedia use, political conversation, opinion formation, and political participation. Sufficient empirical evidence was found to support the hypotheses that (a) news-media use is closely associated with the frequency of political conversation in daily life both at general and issue-specific levels; (b) willingness to argue with those who have different opinions is influenced by majority perceptions and by news-media use and political talk; (c) news-media use and political conversation have positive effects on certain measures of the quality of opinions (argument quality, consideredness, and opinionation) and perhaps on opinion consistency; and (d) news-media use and political conversation are closely associated also with participatory activities, but more so with "campaigning" than "complaining."     

“一田两主”的地权结构分析及其改造利用

中国历史上存在的“一田两主”习惯,在地权结构上体现出了二元结构的本质特征,所有权(田底权)和占有权(田面权)并列,各自成为永久性的独立物权。这种地权结构在中国历史上起到了缓解土地稀缺压力、实现“耕者有其田”的作用,其制度资源对于当代中国土地法制的完善仍具借鉴价值。