Coding regimes of possession. An essay on land, property, and law

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Abstract

Regimes of possession are constituted by rules of property. This includes the asset, rights subjects, and institutions of public authority. They are all coded in specific ways, and they connect to each other. When governments engage with land, they recode the constituent parts of the regime, engaging in property, subject, and even state formation. Yet, in a context of legal and institutional pluralism, many institutions and actors with varying degrees of relative autonomy and legitimacy make up the field of land struggle. All engage in coding of possession. Governments, claim to act within the law when they grant or dispossess citizens of land. Likewise, people aim to legitimate land claims through reference to law in creative ways. Examples show how different repertoires of legalization conspire with efforts to recode different constituent elements of possession into dispossession.
Original languageEnglish
JournalGlobalizations
Number of pages16
ISSN1474-7731
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 29 Apr 2024

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