When Things Become Property: Land Reform, Authority and Value in Postsocialist Europe and Asia / Edition 1

by Thomas Sikor, Stefan Dorondel, Johannes Stahl, Phuc Xuan To

Overview

Governments have conferred ownership titles to many citizens throughout the world in an effort to turn things into property. Almost all elements of nature have become the target of property laws, from the classic preoccupation with land to more ephemeral material, such as air and genetic resources. When Things Become Property interrogates the mixed outcomes of conferring ownership by examining postsocialist land and forest reforms in Albania, Romania and Vietnam, and finds that property reforms are no longer, if they ever were, miracle tools available to governments for refashioning economies, politics or environments.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781785334511
Publisher:	Berghahn Books
Publication date:	04/01/2017
Series:	Max Planck Studies in Anthropology and Economy , #3
Pages:	250
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.63(d)

About the Author

Phuc Xuan To is Research Fellow at Resources, Environment and Development Group of Crawford School of Public Policy, at the Australian National University.

Table of Contents

Preface
List of Acronyms

Introduction: Turning things into property

PART I: AGRICULTURE: NEGOTIATING PROPERTY AND VALUE

Introduction
Chapter 1. Transnational migration, ethnicity, and property in Albania
Chapter 2. Livelihood traditions, worker-peasants, and peasant entrepreneurs in Romania
Chapter 3. Modernity, fantasies, and property in Vietnam

PART II: FORESTS: CONTESTING PROPERTY AND AUTHORITY

Introduction
Chapter 4. Forests, state, and custom in Albania
Chapter 5. Property, predators, and patrons in Romania
Chapter 6. Land allocation, loggers, and lawmakers in Vietnam

Conclusion: Postsocialist propertizing and the dynamics of property

Index

Editorial Reviews

"Despite the seemingly exotic selection of countries, the authors make a significant contribution to the assessment of privatization policy... The volume allows a better understanding of the overall problem and the causes of the failure and can therefore be considered as a valuable contribution to the forthcoming discussion... it is strongly recommended to be read by anyone interested in evaluating privatization policy." - Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas

"I think this is an excellent book. The command of the empirical material allows the authors to drive home a series of points that have theoretical purchase far beyond the analyzed contexts. This is an exciting contribution to the understanding of major social transformations." - Christian Lund, University or Copenhagen

From the Publisher