Land Reform: A Global Perspective

The studies in this book, which span every inhabited continent, follow a three-stage arc. Part I offers a philosophical prehistory to the postcolonial project; Part II surveys several pivotal contexts in which the challenges of postcolonial land reform have played out; and Part III explores the market-oriented trends that recently emerged in reaction to twentieth-century land reform, but which have largely resulted in a re-consolidation of the soil. Each section tells a different part of one of the most important plotlines of late modern history, a plotline which continues to unfold today. The trends explored in this book raise two large questions that will dominate the next phase of land reform scholarship: First, will the corporate model of land ownership, which currently seems like an irresistible force, offer adequate protection for the nutritional needs of the world’s growing population, for the economic security of the agricultural workforce, and for the environment itself?  Secondly, on the distinct possibility that the answer to the first question is no, how might governments seek to democratize land ownership and management in ways that will promote economic and political stability, sustainable production levels, and the support of the local populations? Important clues to addressing these questions await the reader in the chapters that follow.