Comparative Perspectives on Communal Lands and Individual Ownership (eBook)

Comparative Perspectives on Communal Lands and Individual Ownership: Sustainable Futures addresses property and land title as central mechanisms governing access to communally-held land and resources. The collection assesses the effectiveness of property law and tenure models developed around concepts of individual ownership, for achieving long-term environmental and economic sustainability for indigenous peoples and local communities. It explores the momentum for change in the international realm, and then develops a comparative focus across Australia, North America, Africa, Peru, New Zealand and the Pacific region, examining the historical and current impacts of individuation of title on the customary law and practice of indigenous peoples and local communities. Themes of property, privatisation and sustainable communities are developed in theoretical analyses and case studies from these jurisdictions. The case studies throw into sharp relief how questions of land law and resources management should not be separated from wider issues about the long-term viability of communities. Comparative analysis allows consideration of how western models of land tenure and land title might better accommodate the exercise of traditional practices of indigenous peoples and local communities, while still promoting autonomy, choice and economic development. This volume will be of interest to scholars and professionals working in the fields of property law, land reform, policy and planning, indigenous law and customary law, environmental sustainability, development and resource management.

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Comparative Perspectives on Communal Lands and Individual Ownership: Sustainable Futures is a specially organized collection of critical debates, analyses and evaluations of changing models of property as the vehicle governing access to land and resources. These trends are explored in the context of current moves across many countries to privatize communal land holdings, and the collection comprises international analyses in conjunction with case studies - each of which explores an aspect of the broader themes of property, privatization, and sustainable communities - drawn from Australia, North America, South Africa, New Zealand, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Pacific region.