This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Millar, G. (2018), Co‐opting Authority and Privatizing Force in Rural Africa: Ensuring Corporate Power over Land and People. Rural Sociology, 83: 749-771., which has been published in final form at DOI: 10.1111/ruso.12203. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.