Between two hypes: Will “big data” help unravel blind spots in understanding the “global land rush?”

This article aims to critically review to what extent the availability of huge amounts of information about the land grab debate, including new sources of big data, has helped to untangle land grabbing and - more particularly - raising new questions and formulating new hypotheses that have been overlooked in the past. What is the value of digital methods and data driven research through online platforms for identifying knowledge gaps and proposing solutions? Our article shows the value of big data in uncovering new realities but also challenges to not become overwhelmed - while making more efforts than ever to look at the quality - and reliability - of information. Keep doing empirical research - and keep our feet on the ground while also learning from “virtual space” - is a sine qua non - for keeping track and making sensible interpretations. In many cases, however, there is a discrepancy between what is reported (big data) and what is important.