In response to debates around land grabbing, the international community has increasingly developed and promoted global governance norms and guidelines for more responsible land investments. This concern on the part of the international community has particularly taken hold in Sierra Leone—in a post-war context, in which international donor agencies are already steering much of the country’s politics. Yet, despite the enormous influence of international guidelines and the actors promoting their use, there is a spatial variation in the conformity to and effectiveness of such norms in cases of land investments. While some projects seem to resemble ‘showcases’ for their exemplary use, these guidelines seem to be absent in other projects. This article analyses the political economy of customary land tenure, land investments, and international ‘soft laws’ in Sierra Leone. Based on 6 months of fieldwork in Sierra Leone in 2019, I compare several cases of large-scale land investments. I argue that there are important variations in the customary tenure system in the degree to which political authority over land is centralized in the authority of the paramount chief or is devolved to landholding families. This, I suggest, holds important implications for the uptake of global norms for ‘responsible’ investments.

中文翻译：

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塞拉利昂负责任土地投资的习惯保有权、主要是权力和全球规范的变化

为了应对围绕土地掠夺的争论，国际社会越来越多地制定和推广全球治理规范和准则，以实现更负责任的土地投资。国际社会的这种担忧在塞拉利昂尤为突出——在战后背景下，国际捐助机构已经在主导该国的大部分政治事务。然而，尽管国际准则和促进其使用的行为者产生了巨大影响，但在土地投资案例中，此类规范的符合性和有效性存在空间差异。虽然有些项目看起来像是示范性使用的“展示柜”，但其他项目似乎没有这些指导方针。本文分析了传统土地使用权、土地投资、和塞拉利昂的国际“软法”。基于2019年在塞拉利昂6个月的实地考察，我比较了几个大规模土地投资的案例。我认为，在土地的政治权力集中在最高酋长的权力或下放给拥有土地的家庭的程度上，习惯保有权制度存在重要差异。我认为，这对采用“负责任”投资的全球规范具有重要意义。