Land Grabbing Under the Cover of Law: Are BRICS-South Relationships Any Different?

The BRICS are following the pattern traditionally adopted by Northern countries of enclosing and exploiting land, both nationally and abroad, to benefit capital and global agro-industrialisation. They are also using law and diplomacy, notably Bilateral Investment Agreements, in order to facilitate a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Policy File 2014
Main Author: Ferrando, Tomaso
Format: Report
Language:English
Subjects:
Developing countries
Economic policy
International cooperation
International/Economic development
Land/Land use
LDCs
Transnational Institute
Online Access:Request full text
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Summary:The BRICS are following the pattern traditionally adopted by Northern countries of enclosing and exploiting land, both nationally and abroad, to benefit capital and global agro-industrialisation. They are also using law and diplomacy, notably Bilateral Investment Agreements, in order to facilitate access to foreign land, and foster their own economic interests. There is a general consensus among academics, politicians and social movements, that BRICS as 'new donors' are increasing both their quantitative and qualitative role in defining what is considered to be 'the world economic order'. In particular, several authors have underlined the importance of BRICS as a challenge to the traditional development paradigm, describing the five countries as proponents of a South-South cooperation which weakens the so-called Washington Consensus because it does not attach policy conditionalities, provides assistance based on a win-win paradigm, and places emphasis on how to ensure economic sustainability of the recipient country.