The last two years have seen a huge amount of academic, policy-making and media interest in the increasingly contentious issue of land grabbing - the large-scale acquisition of land in the global South. It is a phenomenon against which locals seem defenceless, and one about which multilateral organizations, such as the World Bank, as well as civil-society organizations and action NGOs have become increasingly vocal.

This in-depth and empirically diverse volume - taking in case studies from across Africa, Asia and Latin America - takes a step back from the hype to explore a number of key questions: Does the 'global land grab' actually exist? If so, what is new about it? And what, beyond the immediately visible dynamics and practices, are the real problems?

A comprehensive and much-needed intervention on one of the most hotly contested but little-understood issues facing countries of the South today.

Mayke Kaag is a social anthropologist and a senior researcher at the African Studies Centre in Leiden, the Netherlands. Within the African Studies Centre she is the convenor of a collaborative research group on Africa in the World: Rethinking Africa's Global Connections.

Annelies Zoomers is professor of international development studies (IDS) at Utrecht University and chair of LANDac. She has published extensively on sustainable livelihoods, land policies and the impact of privatization, tourism and international migration.
Mayke Kaag is a social anthropologist and a senior researcher at the African Studies Centre in Leiden, the Netherlands. Within the African Studies Centre she is the convenor of a collaborative research group on Africa in the World: Rethinking Africa's Global Connections.

Annelies Zoomers is professor of international development studies (IDS) at Utrecht University and chair of LANDac. She has published extensively on sustainable livelihoods, land policies and the impact of privatization, tourism and international migration.