LMH’s Professor Robin Harding has received a top award from the American Political Science Association (APSA) for his research examining the long-term developmental effects of coercive cotton cultivation in Mozambique.
Professor Robin Harding, LMH's Gillian Peele Fellow in Politics, has been awarded the APSA’s David Brian Robertson Prize of the Politics and History Section for his co-authored paper ‘Putting Property Rights in Context: Colonial Cotton Concessions, Customary Land Tenure, and Development in Mozambique.’
The study, co-authored with Tugba Bozçağa (KCL) and Arinze Nwokolo (Lagos Business School), examines a policy enforced by the Portuguese government between 1938 and 1961, imposing highly coercive cotton cultivation across parts of Mozambique. It finds significant negative effects on a range of present-day outcomes, such as education, health, wealth, and access to public services like electricity and water.
The paper argues that these effects result in part from changes to landholding patterns. As more people were pushed on to individual plots, private land ownership expanded, which weakened the role of customary authority in the facilitation of development.
Reflecting on the award, Professor Harding said: “My co-authors and I are delighted and honoured to have our work recognised by this award. This paper is the starting point for a broader research agenda evaluating the developmental legacies of different forms of colonial state revenue generation in Africa. To have the quality and contribution of our work acknowledged at this stage gives us huge encouragement as we take this agenda forward.”
The research makes important contributions to our understanding of the legacies of colonialism, and highlight the importance of giving due acknowledgment to existing contextual factors when considering how and why different institutions or policies are likely to impact development in any given case.
This year’s awardees will be honoured at the 2026 APSA Awards Reception in Boston, MA this September.
