Villagization (sometimes also spelledvillagisation) is the usually compulsory resettlement of people into designated villages by government ormilitary authorities.
Villagization may be used as a tactic by a government or military power to facilitate control over a previously scattered rural population believed to harbour disloyal or rebel elements. Examples includeIndian removal toreservations by theU.S. government,General Order No. 11 (1863) in theAmerican Civil War, the BritishNew Villages programme to defeat communist insurgents during theMalayan Emergency, the U.S. "Strategic Hamlet Program" in theVietnam War and the "protected villages" strategy adopted byRhodesia,[1]Mozambique, andUganda in combating modern insurgencies.
The British authorities inColonial Kenya used a similar approach[2] to exert control overKikuyu tribespeople during theMau Mau Uprising, which in turn inspired the "Manyatta" strategy of independent Kenya against ethnicSomalis during theShifta War. However, forced resettlement may sometimes be counter-productive where it increases resentment among an already restive population against the ruling regime.
Villagization may also be used as part of a programme ofcollectivization of farming and other economic activity, as inTanzania under theUjamaa policy set out in theArusha Declaration, and inEthiopia, particularly underMengistu's administration.
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