New Internationalist NI540, Nov/Dec 2022

Take Back the Land

Why has taking control of land been a long-favoured tool of colonizers, wealth hoarders and polluters? From the central plateaus of Brazil, to the streets of Nairobi, it’s time for a reckoning on land rights.

The land beneath our feet is what sustains us – from it we can produce food, construct shelter and build livelihoods. But, it’s so much more than that – a cultural marker and a source of identity. It’s no wonder controlling land has been the goal of power wielders throughout history, while the land’s fiercest protectors – often Indigenous peoples – are criminalized, violated and dispossessed. This edition hears from struggles to take back the land in Brazil, Bangladesh, Kenya and North America.

Also in this magazine, Busani Bafana reports on the Zimbabwean government’s media crackdown; Severia Bel documents how asylum-seekers in Lithuania are caught in a political crossfire; and Denise Laura Baker assesses the legacy of Britain’s Greenham Common and Faslane peace camps 40 years on.