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The company is here to do goodness to us: Imaginaries of development, whiteness, and patronage in Sierra Leone's agribusiness investment deals

Author

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  • Jules Bakker

    (University of Groningen, the Netherlands)

  • Caitlin Ryan

    (3647University of Groningen, the Netherlands)

Abstract

In this paper, we consider how references to ‘development’ are deployed to convince communities to lease their land to agribusiness investors in Sierra Leone. We argue that promises of development made by companies resonate with the aspirations for development that communities already have. The already existing ‘imaginaries’ of development, actual conditions of economic hardship and the material relations of power bound up in who does the ‘asking’ for land mean that communities need little convincing to give their land. Imaginaries of development are effective not only because of the promises of development themselves, but also because of how these imaginaries function through the role of coloniality – and ‘whiteness’ in particular. Analyses that focus only on the coercive power of elites in making land deals miss the degree to which companies’ promises of development fit into already existing imaginaries of a more prosperous future.

Suggested Citation

  • Jules Bakker & Caitlin Ryan, 2021. "The company is here to do goodness to us: Imaginaries of development, whiteness, and patronage in Sierra Leone's agribusiness investment deals," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 53(8), pages 1935-1951, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:53:y:2021:i:8:p:1935-1951
    DOI: 10.1177/0308518X211036914
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Wendy Wolford & Saturnino M. Borras Jr. & Ruth Hall & Ian Scoones & Ben White & Wendy Wolford & Saturnino M. Borras Jr. & Ruth Hall & Ian Scoones & Ben White, 2013. "Governing Global Land Deals: The Role of the State in the Rush for Land," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 44(2), pages 189-210, March.
    2. Lisa Denney, 2013. "Liberal Chiefs or Illiberal Development? The Challenge of Engaging Chiefs in DFID's Security Sector Reform Programme in Sierra Leone," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 31(1), pages 5-25, January.
    3. Jacobo Grajales, 2020. "From war to wealth? Land policies and the peace economy in Côte d’Ivoire," Review of African Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(163), pages 78-94, July.
    4. Caitlin Ryan, 2018. "Large-scale land deals in Sierra Leone at the intersection of gender and lineage," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(1), pages 189-206, January.
    5. Wendy Wolford & Saturnino M. Borras Jr. & Ruth Hall & Ian Scoones & Ben White & Michael B. Dwyer, 2013. "Building the Politics Machine: Tools for ‘Resolving’ the Global Land Grab," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 44(2), pages 309-333, March.
    6. Jacobo Grajales, 2020. "From war to wealth? Land policies and the peace economy in Côte d’Ivoire [De la guerre à la prospérité ? Politiques foncières et économie de la paix en Côte d’Ivoire]," Post-Print hal-02553089, HAL.
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