Wherever I am, the world comes after me.
It offers me its busyness. It does not believe that I do not want it.
Now I understand why the old poets of China went so far
and high into the mountains, then crept into the pale mist.
"The Old Poets of China" by Mary Oliver

Contested Access to Land in the Philippines and Indonesia: International Conference

Details

The Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research, the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, the Asian Center, and the Third World Studies Center, will be holding an international conference, Contested Access to Land in the Philippines and Indonesia: How Can the Poor (Re)gain Control? from 16 to 17 February 2015 at the Asian Center and the University Hotel, both in the University of the Philippines Diliman. The conference is free and open to the public. Pre-registration ends 10 February 2015.

This two-day conference reflects critically on recent trends in land-related issues, including a “global land grab,” the leasing of land to more capitalistic entrepreneurs, and other types of investments that alienate poor land users from their land. Contested by various stakeholders in varying ways and degrees, these land-deals render the rural poor vulnerable, voiceless, and disempowered, and have become an urgent concern of researchers and nongovernmental organization (NGO) activists.

Photo: Conference poster (Click on photo to enlarge)

Contested Access to Land in the Philippines and Indonesia examines the complexities of these issues in order to better understand how the rural poor can (re)gain effective influence over the processes that affect their control over land. The conference features several panels on the following: the conflict between land claims and indigenous peoples; control of land after land reform; post-disaster and post-conflict land grabs; the gender dimension of land deals; alternative models of small-scale farming and land ownership; the role of national and local governments; and the past and future of resource extraction and agrarian issues. 

Below are the relevant links:

Pre-registration ends 10 February 2015. For more details, please visit the conference website at http://calpi.up.edu.ph or kindly contact the conference secretariat at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The Asian Center offers MA degrees in Asian and in Philippine Studies. The Asian Studies program offers specializations in Northeast Asian Studies, Southeast Asian Studies, South Asian Studies, or West Asian Studies. The Center also has an M.A. program in Philippine Studies that allow students to specialize on Philippine society and culture, Philippine foreign relations, or Philippine development studies. The Center also offers a Ph.D. program in Philippine Studies in conjunction with the College of Arts and Letters and the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy. Like the Asian Center on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @upasiancenter.