In land system science (LSS), the globalisation of land use is often understood via trade flows. Fewer studies have explored the power asymmetries and local resistance that shape global connections. Consequently, calls for a deeper engagement with power and agency have been made within LSS. To accommodate this, we engage the ethnographic literature on encounters, emphasising the concepts of resistance and friction. These capture the ways actors position themselves in global systems, resist, and create global connections. To illustrate its relevance for land systems, we use qualitative data from the mining sector of Tanzania, highlighting the emergence of resource nationalism as an alternative form of globalisation (alter-globalisation). We argue that a focus on resistance, friction and alter-globalisation can move LSS towards a deeper engagement with power and agency in global flows, revealing the competing actors, values and visions embedded in land systems.