William Beinart was educated in South Africa (UCT 1968-71), did his doctorate at SOAS, University of London (1975-9) and was Professor at the University of Oxford from 1997 to 2015. His recent research has focused on land issues, rural local knowledge and livelihoods in South Africa. He has assisted with research on land restitution cases and rural chieftaincy claims, and has written on smallholder production in South Africa (see the GGA website). He is co-author of the recent GGA publication Rights to Land: A guide to tenure upgrading and restitution in South Africa.