Read for land rights

Artwork by Valeria Araya for ArtistsForClimate.org

Stick your nose in a land rights book

Why, land is the only thing in the world worth workin' for, worth fightin' for, worth dyin' for, because it's the only thing that lasts.

Gone with the wind

Land rights isn't just for policy makers and academics

From the greatest love stories ever told to grand adventures, period dramas and so much more - amazing stories about land rights are everywhere! You might even have some in your library.

Check back often as we collect popular titles of books written about and by women, youth, peasants, farmers, forest dwellers, fisher folk and Indigenous Peoples who have one thing in common - the fight for their right to land.

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We're always on the look out for land rights-related literature, and we definitely want to hear from you. Hit us up on social media.

Have you read ...

Artwork by Borislava Karadjova (Borislava Madeit) for ArtistsForClimate.org

When I look back, I am so impressed again with the life-giving power of literature. If I were a young person today, trying to gain a sense of myself in the world, I would do that again by reading, just as I did when I was young.

Maya Angelou

THINGS FALL APART (CHINUA ACHEBE)

NIGERIA, 1890s

Communal land ownership is the heart of traditions and identity for the Igbo clan in Nigeria. Okonkwo, our tragic hero, wins status and wealth because he's good at cultivating yams. He struggles with society’s idea of manliness. Meanwhile, the Igbo's culture and social fabric are violently threatened by British colonizers who impose a system of private land ownership and cashcropping. Things fall apart.

BRAIDING SWEETGRASS (ROBIN WALL KIMMERER)

UNITED STATES, 2013

In Robin Wall Kimmerer's memoir-like work of non-fiction, the botanist explores themes of colonization and displacement, writing about Indigenous Peoples' land stewardship practises, and their deep-rooted spiritual connection to their territories. She calls for restorative justice and reparation for Indigenous communities.

100 YEARS OF SOLITUDE (GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ)

COLOMBIA, TIMELESS

Welcome to Macondo, Colombia. Time might not exist, but yellow butterflies do. The Buendía family's fortune depends on the land. Macondo grows. A banana company pounces on the surrounding area, destroying the environment. The company massacres its underpaid workers. Aureliano falls in love with his aunt. A baby is born with a pig’s tail.

HOUSE OF EARTH (WOODIE GUTHRIE)

UNITED STATES, 1930S

A really passionate couple gives birth while building a house on the land they farm. The land they farm isn't theirs because of big ag and banks. ouch. They remain hopeful because 'this land was made for you and me.' Also, Guthrie might have predicted global warming.

GONE WITH THE WIND (MARGARET MITCHELL)

UNITED STATES, 1861 - 1873

In Georgia during the Civil War, Scarlett O'Hara fights to protect her family's plantation, Tara, vowing to never be poor again. She becomes a business woman in Atlanta and falls in love with Ashley, her cousin's husband. Her selfish pursuits lead her to lose 3 husbands and her dignity. But it's ok because she still has Tara and “tomorrow is another day.” Trigger warning: expect racism, miscarriages, and war scenes.

THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS (ARUNDHATI ROY)

INDIA, 1969 - 1993

In post-colonial India, Ammu leaves her abusive husband. Because of gendered land inheritance laws, she eventually dies poor. Before that, she has a passionate affair with Velutha. Their lovemaking stops time. Velutha, an 'untouchable,' cannot own land and joins the Communist movement to redistribute it. He is violently murdered because of his love for Ammu. Expect a sorrowful, if poetic, ending.

THE GRAPES OF WRATH (JOHN STEINBECK)

UNITED STATES, 1939

Land lord evicts tenant farmers. evicted farmers lose land and identity. Despearte, they migrate. They find terrible work. Also, they survive, disrupt power, and some good things happen. Oh, and their ecosystem desperately needs restoring.

ANNA KARENINA (LEO TOLSTOY)

RUSSIA, 1874

Yes, Anna's love life is a trainwreck, but whose isn't? 1800s commentary on farmers rooted to their land and the dizzying life in industrializing cities. Also, peasants are freed from serfdom and no longer have to slave away for super rich land owners.

CROOKED PLOW (Itamar Vieira Junior)

BRAZIL, LATE 1800S

Welcome to Brazil. Slaves have been 'freed.' Despite this, they are prevented from owning the land they harvest. Two Afro-Brazilian sisters sneak into abuela's room and find a magic knife under the bed. Things get tragic. Expect themes on women, race, and land.

THE MOUNTAINS SING (Nguyễn Phan)

VIETNAM, OVER GENERATIONS

A decidedly dramatic multi-generational family drama from Vietnam. A grandmother and her granddaughter navigate decades of war and political upheaval, including communist land reforms.

The family is forced off their land and struggles to survive. Sometimes, they get very hungry. Farmers turn against each other.

Generations later, memories of lost land and identity linger.

This is: raw and emotionally charged

This is not: light reading

We Need New Names (NoViolet Bulawayo)

ZIMBABWE, MODERN DAY

Some have compared this book to parts of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies and Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist. Depending on your appetite for tragedy, read on -- or don’t.

Darling’s home is bulldozed. She is forced to move. Her father contracts AIDS. An 11-year-old friend gets pregnant. Darling migrates to the United States. She longs to go back to Zimbabwe but can’t.

Read to understand the heartbreaking aftermath of land dispossession.

This is: filled with social commentary & peppered with humour

This is not: completely devoid of stereotypes

SALT HOUSES (Hala Alyan)

PALESTINE, 1963 - 2014

In Palestine, a family lives in a house with orange groves. Israel bulldozes it.

In the story that unfolds -- over four generations and three continents, they flee carrying keys to houses they can never return to.

They move to Kuwait. A new war comes. They lose their home again and disperse. Each generation carries the trauma of the first displacement. There are some happy parts.

This is: per Al Jazeera, “a story of Palestinians without Palestine”

This is not: a book that encapsulates the entire Palestinian experience

OPEN VEINS OF LATIN AMERICA (Eduardo Galeano)

LATIN AMERICA, COLONIZATION - RECENT PAST

A non-fiction masterpiece.

Read to understand issues of colonial and post-colonial extractivism and land-grabbing in Latin America.

The people who live on and from the land stay poor. Those who resist land grabbing and extractivism often disappear. The land bleeds, feeding empires.

There are revolutions, every so often.

This is: often an “oh my god” experience

This is not: a book that Eduardo Galeano himself still likes

No time for novels?

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