Land grabbing and land deals - call for grant applications

25 LDPI grants available to researchers in/from the Global South
The Land Deal Politics Initiative LDPI logo

The Land Deal Politics Initiative (LDPI) is offering 25 grants of US$3,000 each to researchers based in/from the Global South who have undertaken original empirical research on land grabs.

More than a decade ago, the Land Deals Politics Initiative (LDPI) was launched as a loose network of scholars and activists concerned about the rise of land, water and green grabs across the world and the consequences for rural livelihoods and agrarian relations. A massive wave of investment in land, resulting in expropriation and displacement had emerged following the financial, food and energy crises of 2008-09. We wanted to understand what was going on and how best to respond.

The global debate around land deals has diminished in the last several years, but important research and political questions remain.

  • What happened to the hundreds of land grabs documented by researchers, non-governmental organizations, activist groups, news media, and aid agencies?
  • What new configurations of land, labour and capital have emerged since?
  • How has the rise of authoritarian, state-led populism and politics re-shaped the tensions between ‘foreignization’ and extraction?

25 research grants

This call invites applications for small grants to support research and writing around old and new themes related to land grabbing, aiming to understand the contemporary dynamics of land and resource ‘grabbing’.

Twenty-five grants of $3000 each are available to researchers based in the ‘Global South’ who have undertaken original empirical research and wish to write this up.

Application deadline - 31 May 2023
Full paper due date - 15 January 2024

Full details of the LDPI, the call and how to apply can be found in the document below.

Successful applicants will be informed by 30 June 2023 and full papers will be due by 15 January 2024.

Full papers can be co-authored with others, including researchers who are not from the Global South. The aim is to publish the papers online in the LDPI Working Paper series and share them at a major international event to be held in Colombia in March 2024, which will include researchers, activists and policymakers from across the world.

We hope to be able to facilitate attendance of successful grant applicants to the event.

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