Land, Control and Transnational Corporations: Local Communities and the Adequate Standard of Living

This book argues that in the era of transnational corporations' control, a right to land for local communities requires a right to control land. Despite notable advances in the legal protection of the rights to land, this study demonstrates that these are not yet effective for local communities. Through an interdisciplinary approach, the book analyses the businesses that motivate most land investments in Latin America and exposes how the State has partially ceded the control of land to transnational corporations exercised along global value chains. The work argues that this reality is grounded on the shift from a socio-liberal to the current neoliberal system and undertakes an evolutive approach of the right to access and to use land, which results in the recognition of a right to control land.The monograph presents an innovative approach at a unique time in the international debate over the right to land, which can be further applied to strengthen the protection of other socio-economic rights. It will be of interest to academics, researchers, and policy-makers working in the areas of International human rights law, agrarian studies, and business law.

About the Author

Verónica Torres-Marenco is an adjunct professor in international human rights law at the Universidad del Magdalena, Colombia.