The Politics of Land Acquisition in Haryana: Managing Dominant Caste Interests in the Name of Development

ABSTRACT

Anti-Special Economic Zone (SEZ) mobilisation in Haryana failed to generate a mass movement. This is despite the political strength of farmers and their deep resentment of the government’s policy to build up land reserves for industrial purposes. This article argues that there are two main reasons for this outcome. First, the state government put in place a series of significant policies to compensate landowners and give them a stake in the industrial project, primarily through payment of an “annuity.” Second, the main anti-SEZ movements were led by dominant landowning castes who did not incorporate the concerns of landless labourers and tenant farmers who faced equally or even more dire consequences from the government’s land acquisition policy. Moreover, mobilisation relied on traditional caste institutions such as khap panchayats and farmer unions strongly associated with Jats, rather than adopting a more broad-based approach. Entrenched caste animosity and pre-existing conflicts of interest between landed Jats and Dalits, who have traditionally worked as agricultural labourers, further explain the limited scope of the mobilisation among rural groups. The analysis underscores how hierarchical relations shape social movements, define the claims they make and ultimately impact their effectiveness.     

Caste in Stone? Exploring Caste and Class Dimensions of Conservation Displacement in Central India

ABSTRACT

This article explores the caste and class dimensions of the local resource politics of conservation displacement. Through long-term study of a conservation displacement site in central India, it interrogates how alliances and rivalries contoured along historical class-caste contestations result in differential patterns of recovery from “green grabbing” and exclusionary conservation. It is argued that contestations within and between subaltern social groups, traditional dominant castes and newly upwardly mobile peasant castes are geared towards cornering resource flows associated with the local welfare/developmental state. Given severely limited avenues of gainful employment for the rural poor in the neo-liberal era, access to the local gatekeeping economy shapes trajectories of accumulation and decline in the context of India’s new land wars.     

农村土地承包经营权流转法律问题研究

《中华人民共和国农村土地承包法》的颁布实施,标志着我国农村土地承包经营权流转法律制度的正式构造。但该项制度仍有诸多方面需要加以改进、完善,其中包括土地承包经营权的生效应采用债权形式主义物权变动模式,转让中发包方的同意权应加以限制,取消对承包经营权抵押、继承的限制,规定股份合作权的流转方式,建立承包经营权流转的中介服务组织等。     

政府在征地过程中的作为与不作为

政府在征地过程中的价值选择与目标定位,是政府作为与不作为的重要前提。政府作为扭曲的根源主要在于政绩变态的惯性、政府利益的驱动、征地程序的缺陷、监督制约的不力、寻租活动的影响以及违法追究过轻等。矫治政府作为扭曲,政府角色回归、征用行为人本定位和制度创新三者缺一不可。     

完善我国土地征用制度的法律思考

土地征用权的行使范围,是我国如何完善土地征用理论研究的热点问题,土地征用行为是否符合社会公共利益,是判定土地征用是否合法,以及是否被滥用的唯一标准。公共利益的明确界定,是解决土地征用权冲突的法理依据和关键问题。在土地征用中,应提高补偿费和安置费,以切实维护被征地农民的利益。     

比较法视野中的土地利用权利体系研究

大陆法系和英美法系国家土地利用权利体系存在较大差异。大陆法系国家的土地立法注重保护土地的归属,而英美法系国家的法律更注重保护土地的利用,从二者的差异分析中可获得一些启示。     

土地承包经营权及其在《物权法草案》中的完善

土地承包经营权归为物权有利于保护包括广大农民在内的权利人权益。为完善土地承包经营权在《物权法草案》中的立法,需要科学设计《物权法草案》土地承包经营权章节体例,强制施行当事人登记制度,确立包括抵押、继承在内的多种土地承包经营权流转方式,消除对土地承包经营权转让的限制,列明土地承包经营权期限及其消灭情形。     

农村税费改革中存在的一些问题及对策

“十六大”做出了“继续推进农村税费改革 ,减轻农民负担 ,保护农民利益”的决定 ,在这新的历史条件下 ,按照“三个代表”重要思想的要求 ,如何正确处理好国家、集体和农民的关系 ,从根本上解决农民负担过重的问题 ,促进农民增收和农村稳定 ,当前进行的农村税费改革 ,具有十分重要的现实意义。     

家庭联产承包责任制的再审视

家庭联产承包责任制由于符合农业自身的特点和我国当时的农村实际 ,为我国农业经济的恢复和发展发挥了巨大的作用。但在国民经济已转入市场经济的今天 ,这种体制下农地流转的非市场方式已暴露出粗放经营、低效率、土地使用权属性不明确等弊端 ,因而有待进一步改革。     

集体土地征收与农地转用审批

由于土地用途和所有权方面的原因,集体所有的农业用地转为非农建设用地首先要通过土地征收将集体土地转为国有土地。这一产生于计划经济背景下的制度已不合时宜,既侵害了农民的土地产权又不利于有关土地管理的行政法治,也不能充分保护土地资源。应根据产权理论和行政征收原理加以改革,分别建立独立的集体土地征收制度和农地转用审批制度。