This thesis investigates the actual situation in the rural areas of Lithuania, one of the Central and Eastern European countries which, after the collapse of the Soviet regime, started a programme of land reform and today faces problems such as land fragmentation, land abandonment, lack of infrastructure, land conflicts, etc. Such problems affecting sustainable rural development can be solved by applying a land management instrument – land consolidation that has worked successfully for hundreds of years in Western European countries. Since 2000, Lithuania with the support of international land consolidation experts, has dealt with this instrument and supplemented that legal framework in 2004. Unfortunately this instrument still doesn’t assure results compared with Western European countries. In order to identify aspects influencing comprehensive results, an investigation of the legal frameworks regulating land consolidation in six selected European countries was performed by analysing scientific papers, legal acts and interviewing land consolidation experts. Seeking to obtain a comprehensive Lithuanian land consolidation process picture, a case study analysis was applied and interviews with participating land owners and land surveyors as well as the online questionnaire for municipal specialists were performed. Moreover, based on European expert’s practice reflected in the online questionnaire, criteria showing the potential for comprehensive land consolidation in Lithuania (at municipal and project area scale) were developed and techniques based on Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis offered. The most significant part of this thesis is a developed framework for how to reach sustainable rural areas (re)development through land consolidation in Lithuanian and other Central and Eastern European countries. Developed criteria showing the potential for comprehensive land consolidation and framework provides the main original contribution to new knowledge by benefiting policy makers, land management authorities, land surveyors, the academic and professional community and rural communities on both a national and international scale.

This thesis examines people’s attempts to (re)construct belonging and authority after rapid socio-political and economic change. It is a study of the lives of those living alongside each other in a new resettlement area in Zimbabwe a decade after ‘fast track’ land reform. Drawing on ethnographic research conducted on a series of farms in the Mazowe area (March 2012-May 2013), I show that in the uncertain socio-political context of this new resettlement area, belonging was a dynamic social process involving complex moral bonds, and relationships of dependence and obligation. ‘Fast track’ land reform can be understood as a process of state-making in which the Zimbabwean state reconfigured its relationship with its citizens via the redistribution of land. After ‘fast track’, farms were transformed from socially and politically bounded entities under the paternalistic rule of white farmers, to areas in which land beneficiaries and farm workers lived alongside one another under the rule of the ZANU PF state. Land was allocated according to ZANU PF loyalty. Farmworkers due to their associations with white farmers and oppositional politics, were rarely allocated land. Thus farms in Mazowe consisted of landless farm workers who had lived and worked in the area for generations, and landed beneficiaries who came from a variety of places. In addition, ‘fast track’ was framed in terms of redistribution rather than restitution but many chiefs saw it as an opportunity to ‘return’ to their ancestral lands. However, their claims to authority in the areas remained uncertain. I examine how people dealt with the various tensions thrown up by ‘fast track’. By leaving these tensions unresolved, a contingent stability was generated on farms, even as this was fragile. My work contributes to better understanding the socio-political effects of land reform. Research on Zimbabwean land reform has tended to rely on official framings of people’s relationships to each other and the land, and has largely failed to capture the complexity and negotiated nature of these in everyday life. Anthropological work on belonging has mostly focused on explicit claims. I show how history and the micro-politics of everyday relationships profoundly shaped local forms of belonging which crosscut state delimitations of who belonged, and what land reform meant to those living in this area.

This study is part of the 'Sustainable Estates for the 21st Century' project, designed to understand how best to manage the relationships between people, place and the economy in the Scottish uplands. Large areas of these uplands are owned by private landowners who make significant decisions on land-use. However, past research has provided little insight into landowner decision-making: it is out-dated, inconsistent and offers limited explanation of underlying motives and priorities. In order to address this, a large-scale structured survey was combined with Q methodology and case study interviews on 11 estates. The results indicate that most private landowners have strong economic priorities, but they are not striving solely for instrumental goals of income or financial security. Those on purchased estates are also motivated by personal ambitions: expressive goals. On inherited estates, landowners are motivated by intrinsic motives: a strong sense of duty and attachment to place. Time and money clearly impact significantly on private landowners' motives and priorities for estate management: • The fundamental priority underpinning estate management is economic; only when the estate is financially secure are other issues considered to any significant extent. • Environmental priorities are most evident on purchased estates without economic constraints. • Lengthy family ownership creates strong ties. An increased sense of duty and commitment to social priorities comes with longevity of tenure. Despite the strength of the underlying economic motivation, most landowners are 'satisficers' trying to balance multiple objectives in order to address the various challenges to sustainability. This was particularly evident on large inherited estates where landowners take a paternalistic role. Consequently, retaining such landowners appears to be an important factor in building resilient communities. Although grants still incentivise many landowners to provide public goods, their contributions to all aspects of sustainability could be better rewarded. Government policy should improve the alignment of landowners' and public goals to achieve long-term sustainability in the uplands.

This dissertation investigates land and tenancy disputes in Gedeo, southern Ethiopia, between 1941 and 1974. Such disputes were a deeply entrenched feature of Ethiopian land tenure systems until the revolution, and despite its importance the subject has not received the attention it deserves. Based on local court archival documents and oral interviews, the dissertation seeks to understand how these conflicts shaped agrarian relationships in Gedeo during this crucial period. The study highlights how differential access to resources created disharmony within Gedeo. It not only contributed to the proliferation of disputes but also eroded community cohesion, one of the consequences of which was that when Ethiopia was invaded by Italy in 1935 it was too divided and weak to defend itself effectively from external aggression. The post-liberation period was a formative time in the history of Gedeo. During this time the gabbar system was gradually replaced by landlord-tenant relationships. There was significant economic development largely due to the increasing importance of the coffee trade, but also land and tenancy disputes became a dominant feature of this period. Although land disputes were common in many other parts of Ethiopia, tenancy disputes in the south are described in the existing literature as distinctive from those in northern Ethiopia. The existing works mainly discuss tenancy relationships in the south from an ethnic perspective. This factor might have exacerbated the rivalries; however, it was not the main factor. This dissertation argues that competition for available resources was at the heart of the problem. The increased polarisation of landlord-tenant conflict continued to damage agrarian relationships. The inability of the government to deal with the problem made the situation worse and as a result tenants were obliged to find alternative ways to express their grievances. In February 1960 when the Michele uprising erupted the government rushed to intervene with the heavy use of security forces. Nevertheless the tenancy problem did not show sign of improvement until it was resolved finally and fundamentally by revolutionary means in 1974.

This dissertation addresses critically the role that land tenure plays in housing the poor in rapidly urbanising medium–sized cities in the Global South and in particular, Aguascalientes, Mexico, a city with one of the highest growth rates in the country. Urban sprawl, industrial development, and the increasing impoverished population in these sorts of cities are key variables that demand the attention of scholars and policy makers who have traditionally focused on the largest Mexican cities, i.e., Mexico City, Monterrey, and Guadalajara. The urban poor struggle to achieve consolidated housing by means of creative agency strategies operating within restrictive environments, or structures. Thus, this study engages with the implications of poverty, informality, and security of tenure as the starting points to understand the problems of housing the poor. Their experiences and voice were incorporated by following a behavioural approach and contesting the arguments that assert the need for a Western–like legal land and housing system as the only path for such cities to overcome poverty as promoted by influential international bodies. In order to gain the in–depth knowledge required for this research, a qualitative case study methodology was employed, interviewing formal and informal poor settlers, policy makers, and experts. The results showed that more questions are raised by the structure than by the agency strategies utilised by the urban poor, as the latter proved to be more part of the solution than of the problem. Besides the evident overlapping of formal and informal housing mechanisms, institutions must learn from their experiences. Approaching the role played by land tenure in home choices from a behavioural approach enriched this research by assessing it from the perspectives of the main actors involved in the process. It helped understand the problem from a perspective that is rich in experience as settlers provided an honest insight into their problems within the sampled areas by incorporating their voice into the housing equation. Yet, there was still an evident mismatch between the settlers’ and public bodies’ approaches to housing that will probably endure for some time.

An historiographical analysis of the present political debates regarding land reform in Scotland provides the point of departure for a case study of the Isle of Eigg and the 1997 purchase of the island by the Isle ofEigg Heritage Trust. The case study details the island community's historical development and researches the building pressures that culminated in two successive campaigns for community ownership in 1992 and 1996-7. Through interviews, focus groups, and 3 years of regular visits to the island a comprehensive social history of Eigg is consequently compiled and analysed, within which, particular attention is given to the role of island proprietors and their problematic relationships with the resident community. Using a highly participative methodology of research, the author took an active role in the facilitation and promotion of the islanders' ideas for community ownership. This is detailed together with the participative management plan that resulted from planning workshops and exhaustive interviews with island households. The process of community empowerment is traced through the workshops, the drafting of the management plan and the unique partnership that was eventually formed between the islanders, the Highland Council, and the Scottish Wildlife Trust. This is followed by an 'insider's view' of the Isle of Eigg Appeal, which had as much impact on the island as it did in the national media. The most successful public appeal in the Highlands and Islands to date is also examined from a marketing perspective, that explains how indeed, 64 islanders managed to raise £1.6 m in just 8 months without mains electricity nor Lottery backing. Finally, the central lessons of the community's success are used to highlight the importance of community development in any future policies of land reform in Scotland. The conclusion thereby emphasises the importance of integrated planning, community participation, and appropriate packages of support in establishing similar community trust models of ownership.

No description available.

This thesis examines Scottish community land ownership through the lenses of power and community. It asks what impact Community Land Initiatives (CLIs) have on power relations, particularly at local level; and, if and how their conception as “community” initiatives affects that. These questions are addressed through in-depth qualitative case studies of two emerging CLIs on the Isle of Skye, in the context of the wider community land movement. The thesis finds that one of the CLIs studied have contributed some measure of additive empowerment to local residents. These are increasing in significance and social reach as the scale of asset ownership and associated development projects expands. The other is at an earlier stage in terms of land ownership, but has some collective power through a focus on the cultural and convivial aspects of community that has considerable local resonance. It is also clear that, where CLIs acquire land and assets, they shift visible power from landowners to community groups. They also are beginning to shift cultural perceptions of who and what land is for. However, despite some efforts by activists to address them, power relations at local level shape participation in CLI decision-making spaces. These are closely connected to experiences and ideas of community at local level. More broadly, the thesis shows how CLIs owe their power both to organising at local level, and to a network of relationships with actors elsewhere, including funding and support agencies. Maintaining and balancing all these relationships can be challenging. As an in-depth but narrowly focussed case study, this thesis aims at exploring these issues, rather than producing definitive judgements about the entire community land movement. The final chapter therefore situates the thesis in the context of other studies of this movement, and within the wider literature on power and development. It concludes with suggestions for further research and testing of the ideas it has developed.

Since 2005, when the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued its opinion deeming the Israeli Separation Wall and settlements illegal, there have been significant developments in the nonviolent methods adopted for countering Israeli occupation. While Palestinian nonviolent resistance has existed throughout history, from this time onwards, there have been a number of factors that give this period its unique traits. The most central method that has been adopted by all nonviolent actors is to influence economic interaction with Israel in a way that is in line with international law, and is supportive of the official positions adopted by the countries that nonviolent activists aim to influence. While Israeli settlements are illegal according to international law, they include industrial areas that export products to many countries. Through this contradiction, nonviolent activists have found an opportunity to pressurise countries to end their economic ties with those settlements, and consequently put pressure Israel to change its settlement policies. Some of these call for ending economic ties with Israel itself, because it is upholding the settlements, and some call for ending ties only with Israeli settlements; in other words, some target the criminal and others just the crime. In 2010, the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) adopted its first unilateral program that was not in agreement with Israel, and which introduced a strategy for the cessation of economic ties with Israeli settlements. This was done through a mixture of national public awareness campaigns to influence consumer behaviour, and the introduction of legislation by which it became illegal for Palestinian enterprises to have any economic ties with Israeli settlements. After starting by focussing on its own markets, the PNA called upon other countries to follow suit by lobbying government officials, parliamentarians, and financial institutions. However, this action came five years after a call for a full boycott, including divestment and sanctions against Israel, made by Palestinian civil society organizations and political parties. This call, known as the BDS call had gained tremendous support and amalgamated a large pool of members internationally by the time that the PNA started with its campaign for a limited boycott. This disparity has had a significant influence on the dynamics of the boycott movement, both locally in Palestine and globally. This research explores those dynamics. It takes an in-­‐‑depth look at the effort to end economic ties with settlements, including who the actors are, what they aim for, how they interact, and how effective they have been. The PNA’s program to end economic ties with settlements was chosen as a case study for this doctoral thesis, because of its central position in relation to the topic and the unique access to its documentation through the author’s previous role as its director.

Based on primary sources pertaining to the village of Zhaitan, this thesis studied the economic transition of households in a village in the south of Anhui Province as they went through the revolutions, political movements and reforms of the twentieth century. The transition was divided into four periods, corresponding to four of the chapters of this text. The first period was from 1927 to 1949, on which I depicted the household economy in a village that had not yet experienced intervention by the powers of the state; the second period was from 1949 to 1962, during which the Land Reform and the cooperative movement were the most significant revolutions in the rural area. The third period was 1963–1978, when the commune system was adjusted in response to the failure of the Great Leap Forward and was continued stably from then on. The last period was the reform period which ran from late-1978 until 1992. During this period, the collective system was abandoned and state control on the rural economy was gradually loosened. In the course of transition of the household economy in Zhaitan, I focused on the conflict between the growing population and the limited resources of the village. Before the 1949, the solution was to go into businesses outside the village; in the 30 years after 1949, under the framework of the collective system and the control of the state command, the peasants managed to develop labour-intensive production to meet the needs of the growing population; in the reform period after 1978, with the overall withdrawal of state intervention in rural areas, the tension was finally released through the market and the development of industry. The experience of Zhaitan reveals that the change of land ownership did not make a difference to the economic condition of most households if the land area was much less than what was needed. It also shows that the collective system of agriculture, however, could promote agricultural production, and thus brought about positive effects on the condition of each household through centralised management of the labour force and the land. Last, but not least, the overall boost to rural household economy is relient on the development of the industry to complete the transfer of rural workforce from the agriculture.