| Abstract: | This article is concerned with coherence in public policy in highly differentiated societies. It explores the challenges faced when seeking to develop policy in ways which both respond to progressive thinking and protect the interests of the poor. Land policy in Liberia illustrates the theme, specifically the 2013 ‘Land Rights Policy.’ The article shows how pressures for reform of customary governance and gender relations may undermine the institutions of local land management, and threaten the ability of the rural poor to defend their interests. This is of particular concern at the present time, given the appetite of external capital for land acquisition in Liberia, and the close alliances which it is forging with the Liberian elite. |
