Landlessness

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Landlessness is the quality or state of being without land, without access to land, or without having private ownership of land. Although overlapping considerably, landlessness is not a necessary condition of poverty. In modern capitalist societies, individuals may not necessarily privately own land yet still possess the capital to obtain an excess of what is necessary to sustain themselves, such as wealthy individuals who rent expensive high-rise apartments in major urban centers. As such, landlessness may not exist as an immediate threat to their survival or quality of life. [1] This minority of landless individuals as sometimes been referred to as the "landless rich." [2] [3] [4] However, for the majority of landless people, including the urban poor and those displaced into conditions of rural-to-urban migration, their condition of landlessness is also one of impoverishment, being without the capital to meet their basic necessities nor the land to grow their own food, keep animals, or sustain themselves. During times of economic prosperity in modern capitalist societies, the liabilities of landlessness may not be noticeable, especially to the wealthy, but during times of economic failure and rising unemployment, the liabilities of landlessness become more visible. [1] [5]

Contents

Indigenous landlessness

Landlessness has since been identified as "one of the main causes of poverty amongst Indigenous peoples, particularly Indigenous women, making land rights critical to the alleviation of Indigenous poverty." [6] Indigenous people throughout the world have been displaced from their traditional lands as a result of settler colonialism, corporate imperialism, war, logging and mining, and even land conservation efforts, which has increased their social marginalization, lack of access to basic social services, and chronic poverty. [6] [7] [8] According to colonial logics, Indigenous people were not able to exercise their territorial sovereignty. [9] Indigenous peoples in the United States without a territory or a reservation, such as the Oklahoma Choctaws and the Winnemem Wintu, are nations without a land base, which affects their ability to assert sovereignty and self-determination while also leading directly to the loss of language, culture, and traditions. [10] [11] Māori in New Zealand have recognized how Indigenous homelessness is inextricably connected with landlessness as a result of the colonial acquisition of Indigenous resources to support European settlement. [8]

Landlessness in rural economies

Characteristics of landlessness in rural economies

Landlessness can be defined as the lack of access to or absence of adequate land to provide basic needs and fulfillment of human rights. [12] [13] [14] A rural household is generally categorized as landless if it does not have land outside of residential or rented land. [12] Landlessness is usually also a manifestation of other societal problems such as poverty, insecurity, powerlessness, and inequality. [15] [16]

In agrarian economies, land is the primary source of income and employment for rural populations. [17] [15] As such, ownership of and access to land is a major determinant of "economic solvency, social power structure, and hierarchy [15] " and it is considered to be the most important contributor to poverty for rural households. [17] The rural landless are separated from means of production [12] and become dependent on non-agricultural sources of labor [17] which are often inconsistent and offer insufficiently low wages. [12] [18] As a result, they continue to be unable to access adequate land due to the lack of social and fiscal power and are confined to the poorest segments of society. [12]

Causes of landlessness in rural economies

There are two main assumptions associated with the rapid rise of landlessness in rural economies over the past few decades. [15] [12] The first assumption stipulates that certain socio-economic circumstances such as low agricultural productivity, inequality, and colonialism would exacerbate peasant class differentiation. Therefore, poverty and landlessness increase in tandem. [12] [14] Low agricultural productivity is a concern especially in areas with land scarcity such as in certain parts of Asia, where the lower the productivity of land, the more land is required to provide an adequate level of living. [14] Inequitable social structures often characterize rural landscapes in underdeveloped countries. Corporate and commercial actors control large tracts of productive land, increasing the severity of landlessness and near-landlessness. This polarization continues to increase, exacerbating inequality and conflict. [19] Colonialism has direct consequences on landlessness, where it undermines existing social and organizational structures and generally enables exploitative land management practices. [14] [20] [16] The second assumption stipulates that rising landlessness signifies a divergence from farming and the emergence of non-agricultural economic opportunities. In this scenario, farming households can choose to sell their land to explore new opportunities, in which case rising landlessness can be associated with falling poverty. [14] [12]

Grassroots activism

Various grassroots movements have emerged in response to escalating corruption, discrimination, and exploitative labor conditions. Notable movements and organizations include the Landless People's Movement in South Africa, the Landless Workers' Movement in Brazil, the 2020–2021 Indian farmers' protest, and the Asian Peasant Coalition. [21] [22] [23]

Day of the Landless

The Day of the Landless on March 29 is inaugurated by the Asian Peasant Coalition to raise awareness and advocate for land rights for rural workers across Asia. [24]

Related Research Articles

Agrarianism is a social and political philosophy that advocates for rural development and a rural agricultural lifestyle, family farming, widespread property ownership, and political decentralization. Those who adhere to agrarianism tend to value traditional forms of local community over urban modernity. Agrarian political parties sometimes aim to support the rights and sustainability of small farmers and poor peasants against the wealthy in society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Land reform</span> Changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership

Land reform involving the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership, land use, and land transfers. The reforms may be initiated by governments, by interested groups, or by revolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rural area</span> Geographic area outside towns and cities

In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically described as rural, as well as other areas lacking substantial development. Different countries have varying definitions of rural for statistical and administrative purposes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Subsistence agriculture</span> Farming to meet basic needs

Subsistence agriculture occurs when farmers grow crops on smallholdings to meet the needs of themselves and their families. Subsistence agriculturalists target farm output for survival and for mostly local requirements. Planting decisions occur principally with an eye toward what the family will need during the coming year, and only secondarily toward market prices. Tony Waters, a professor of sociology, defines "subsistence peasants" as "people who grow what they eat, build their own houses, and live without regularly making purchases in the marketplace".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ejido</span> Communal farming unit in Mexico

An ejido is an area of communal land used for agriculture in which community members have usufruct rights rather than ownership rights to land, which in Mexico is held by the Mexican state. People awarded ejidos in the modern era farm them individually in parcels and collectively maintain communal holdings with government oversight. Although the system of ejidos was based on an understanding of the preconquest Aztec calpulli and the medieval Spanish ejido, since the 20th century ejidos have been managed and controlled by the government.

Agrarian reform can refer either, narrowly, to government-initiated or government-backed redistribution of agricultural land or, broadly, to an overall redirection of the agrarian system of the country, which often includes land reform measures. Agrarian reform can include credit measures, training, extension, land consolidations, etc. The World Bank evaluates agrarian reform using five dimensions: (1) stocks and market liberalization, (2) land reform, (3) agro-processing and input supply channels, (4) urban finance, (5) market institutions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poverty in China</span>

In China, poverty mainly refers to rural poverty. Decades of economic development has reduced urban extreme poverty. According to the World Bank, more than 850 million Chinese people have been lifted out of extreme poverty; China's poverty rate fell from 88 percent in 1981 to 0.7 percent in 2015, as measured by the percentage of people living on the equivalent of US$1.90 or less per day in 2011 purchasing price parity terms, which still stands in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rural economics</span> Study of rural economies

Rural economics is the study of rural economies. Rural economies include both agricultural and non-agricultural industries, so rural economics has broader concerns than agricultural economics which focus more on food systems. Rural development and finance attempt to solve larger challenges within rural economics. These economic issues are often connected to the migration from rural areas due to lack of economic activities and rural poverty. Some interventions have been very successful in some parts of the world, with rural electrification and rural tourism providing anchors for transforming economies in some rural areas. These challenges often create rural-urban income disparities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agroecology in Latin America</span> Agroecological practices in Latin America

Agroecology is an applied science that involves the adaptation of ecological concepts to the structure, performance, and management of sustainable agroecosystems. In Latin America, agroecological practices have a long history and vary between regions but share three main approaches or levels: plot scale, farm scale, and food system scale. Agroecology in Latin American countries can be used as a tool for providing both ecological, economic, and social benefits to the communities that practice it, as well as maintaining high biodiversity and providing refuges for flora and fauna in these countries. Due to its broad scope and versatility, it is often referred to as "a science, a movement, a practice."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rural poverty</span> Poverty in rural areas, which are often less developed than urban areas worldwide

Rural poverty refers to situations where people living in non-urban regions are in a state or condition of lacking the financial resources and essentials for living. It takes account of factors of rural society, rural economy, and political systems that give rise to the marginalization and economic disadvantage found there. Rural areas, because of their small, spread-out populations, typically have less well maintained infrastructure and a harder time accessing markets, which tend to be concentrated in population centers.

Poverty reduction in Guatemala remains as one of the key challenges to be dealt with before a more balanced and socially inclusive economic growth could be achieved.

The Journal of Agrarian Change is a peer-reviewed academic journal established in 2001 covering agrarian political economy. The journal publishes historical and contemporary studies of the social relations and dynamics of production, power relations in agrarian formations and ownership structures and their processes of change.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gender and food security</span>

Gender inequality both leads to and is a result of food insecurity. According to estimates, women and girls make up 60% of the world's chronically hungry and little progress has been made in ensuring the equal right to food for women enshrined in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Women face discrimination both in education and employment opportunities and within the household, where their bargaining power is lower. On the other hand, gender equality is described as instrumental to ending malnutrition and hunger. Women tend to be responsible for food preparation and childcare within the family and are more likely to be spent their income on food and their children's needs. The gendered aspects of food security are visible along the four pillars of food security: availability, access, utilization and stability, as defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization.

Agrarian reform and land reform have been a recurring theme of enormous consequence in world history. They are often highly political and have been achieved in many countries.

Agrarian socialism is a political ideology that promotes social ownership of agrarian and agricultural production as opposed to private ownership. Agrarian socialism involves equally distributing agricultural land among collectivized peasant villages. Many agrarian socialist movements have tended to be rural, locally focused, and traditional. Governments and political parties seeking agrarian socialist policies have existed throughout the world, in regions including Europe, Asia, North America, Latin America, Africa and Australia.

Concentration of land ownership refers to the ownership of land in a particular area by a small number of people or organizations. It is sometimes defined as additional concentration beyond that which produces optimally efficient land use.

Green grabbing or green colonialism is the foreign land grabbing and appropriation of resources for environmental purposes, resulting in a pattern of unjust development. The purposes of green grabbing are varied; it can be done for ecotourism, conservation of biodiversity or ecosystem services, for carbon emission trading, or for biofuel production. It involves governments, NGOs, and corporations, often working in alliances. Green grabs can result in local residents' displacement from land where they live or make their livelihoods. It is considered to be a subtype of green imperialism.

Agrarian change is the process by which the political economy of the agrarian sector alters in some way. It involves changes in the social relations and dynamics of production, power relations in agrarian formations and ownership structures in the agricultural sector of an economy. The kind of dimensions covered in the study of this typically include not only technological and institutional forms such as agricultural productivity and farm-size and organisation; land reform; paths of capitalist transition; the politics of transnational agrarian social movements; the environmental contradictions of capitalist agriculture; global value chains and commodity certification schemes; the agrarian roots of violence and conflict; and migration and rural labour markets but also issues around gender, migration and rural labor markets, social differentiation and class formation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Environmental conflict</span> Social conflict caused by environmental factors

Environmental conflicts, socio-environmental conflict or ecological distribution conflicts (EDCs) are social conflicts caused by environmental degradation or by unequal distribution of environmental resources. The Environmental Justice Atlas documented 3,100 environmental conflicts worldwide as of April 2020 and emphasised that many more conflicts remained undocumented.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rural women</span>

Rural women play a fundamental role in rural communities around the world providing care and being involved in number of economic pursuits such as subsistence farming, petty trading and off-farm work. In most parts of the world, rural women work very hard but earn very little.

References

  1. 1 2 Berry, Wendell (2010). What Matters? Economics for a Renewed Commonwealth. Counterpoint. pp. 23–24. ISBN   9781582436708.
  2. ↑ Proto, Eugene (2007). "Land and the transition from a dual to a modern economy". Journal of Development Economics. 83: 4–5. doi:10.1016/j.jdeveco.2005.11.004.
  3. ↑ "The Pope-Hartford Garage, St. Louis". Cycle and Automobile Trade Journal. 15. Chilton Company: 141. 1911.
  4. ↑ Monograph Series. University of California: Deccan College Post-graduate and Research Institute. 1968. p. 190.
  5. ↑ Forni, Nadia (2003). Fiorillo, Ciro; Vercueil, Jacques (eds.). Syrian Agriculture at the Crossroads. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Policy Assistance Division. pp. 329–330. ISBN   9789251049907.
  6. 1 2 Gender and Human Rights in the Commonwealth: Some Critical Issues for Action in the Decade 2005-2015. Commonwealth Secretariat. 2004. p. 258. ISBN   9780850928082.
  7. ↑ Vinding, Diana (2004). The Indigenous World 2004. IWGIA. p. 394. ISBN   9788790730833.
  8. 1 2 Brown, Deidre (2016). "Tūrangawaewae Kore: Nowhere to Stand". In Peters, Evelyn; Christensen, Julia (eds.). Indigenous Homelessness: Perspectives from Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. University of Manitoba Press. ISBN   9780887555268.
  9. ↑ Simala, Kenneth Inyani (2014). El-Affendi, Abdelwahab (ed.). Genocidal Nightmares: Narratives of Insecurity and the Logic of Mass Atrocities. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 97–98. ISBN   9781628920734.
  10. ↑ Akers, Donna (2013). Culture and Customs of the Choctaw Indians. ABC-CLIO. p. 151. ISBN   9780313364020.
  11. ↑ "Resolution Chapter 128". Statutes of California and Digests of Measures 2008. 4. University of California: 5857. 2008.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Ravallion, Martin; Van De Walle, Dominique (2008-10-01). "Does rising landlessness signal success or failure for Vietnam's agrarian transition?". Journal of Development Economics. 87 (2): 191–209. doi:10.1016/j.jdeveco.2007.03.003. hdl: 10986/8956 . ISSN   0304-3878. S2CID   153937699.
  13. ↑ Shrestha, Nanda R. (2019-04-10), "The Politics of Land, Spontaneous Settlement, and the Prospect of Agrarian Revolution?", Landlessness and Migration in Nepal, Routledge, pp. 224–257, doi:10.4324/9780429042690-7, ISBN   978-0-429-04269-0, S2CID   197783739 , retrieved 2021-04-16
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 Sinha, Radha (1984). Landlessness: A Growing Problem. Food & Agriculture Org. ISBN   9251013721.
  15. 1 2 3 4 Rahman, Md. Habibur; Manprasert, Somprawin (2006-02-01). "Landlessness and its Impact on Economic Development: A Case Study on Bangladesh". Journal of Social Sciences. 2 (2): 54–60. doi: 10.3844/jssp.2006.54.60 . ISSN   1549-3652.
  16. 1 2 Elisabeth, Wickeri (2009). "Land is Life, Land is Power: Landlessness, Exclusion, and Deprivation in Nepal". Fordham International Law Journal. 34.
  17. 1 2 3 Anwar, Talat; Qureshi, Sarfraz K.; Ali, Hammad; Ahmad, Munir (2004). "Landlessness and Rural Poverty in Pakistan [with Comments]". The Pakistan Development Review. 43 (4): 855–874. doi: 10.30541/v43i4IIpp.855-874 . ISSN   0030-9729. JSTOR   41261030.
  18. ↑ Jahan, Nilufar; Alauddin, Mohammad (1996-01-01). "Have women lost out in the development process? Some evidence from rural Bangladesh". International Journal of Social Economics. 23 (4/5/6): 370–390. doi:10.1108/03068299610121921. ISSN   0306-8293.
  19. ↑ Tait, Saskia (2003). "Property Matters: Synergies and Silences between Land Reform Research and Development Policy". Journal of Public and International Affairs. 14.
  20. ↑ Rammohan, K.T. (2008). "Caste and Landlessness in Kerala: Signals from Chengara". Economic and Political Weekly. 43.
  21. ↑ Vergara‐Camus, Leandro (2011). "Land, Protest, and Politics: The Landless Movement and the Struggle for Agrarian Reform in Brazil – By Gabriel Ondetti". Journal of Agrarian Change. 11 (1): 129–132. doi:10.1111/j.1471-0366.2010.00292.x. ISSN   1471-0366.
  22. ↑ Popular politics in South African cities : unpacking community participation. Claire Bénit-Gbaffou, Human Sciences Research Council. Cape Town, South Africa. 2015. ISBN   978-0-7969-2464-3. OCLC   928364088.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
  23. ↑ "The Asian Peasant Coalition". The Asian Peasant Coalition. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  24. ↑ Ramakant, Bobby (2021). "Day of the Landless sparks call for reform of global food system". The Nation Thailand. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
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