Controlling land they call their own: access and women's empowerment in Northern Tanzania

Formal rights to land are often promoted as an essential part of empowering women, particularly in the Global South. We look at two grassroots non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working on land rights and empowerment with Maasai communities in Northern Tanzania. Women involved with both NGOS attest to the power of land ownership for personal empowerment and transformations in gender relations. Yet very few have obtained land ownership titles. Drawing from Ribot and Peluso's theory of access, we argue that more than ownership rights to land, access – to land, knowledge, social relations and political processes – is leading to empowerment for these women, as well as helping to keep land within communities. We illustrate how the following are key to both empowerment processes and protecting community and women's land: (1) access to knowledge about legal rights, such as the right to own land; (2) access to customary forms of authority; and (3) access to a joint social identity – as women, as ‘indigenous people’ and as ‘Maasai'. Through this shared identity and access to knowledge and authority, women are strengthening their access to social relations (amongst themselves, with powerful political players and NGOs), and gaining strength through collective action to protect land rights.     

The role of global cities in land grabs

Key trends link a globally connected urban archipelago and its hinterlands, warranting new studies of power in its most contemporary forms. This article locates land power and where that power is exercised – looking at the burgeoning global land rush from the perspective of cities. Urbanisation continues to drive vast political transitions, uprooting longstanding agrarian modes of living while creating myriad inequalities within cities. Are the world’s most powerful agglomerations active agents in this transformation? Answering affirmatively, the article reframes urbanisation as a vast, global geopolitical transfer of power from rural to urban. Leading global cities like New York, London, Hong Kong, Chicago and Singapore are not merely impressive collections of factor endowments. They are also sites of concentrated power with coercive influences beyond municipal boundaries. The article asks how cities project power in the contemporary global system. Juxtaposing data on global connectivity with the location strategies of private firms, we learn that the world’s most successful global cities are also sources of exploitative accumulations of land.     

Rural unions and the struggle for land in Brazil

Studies of Brazil's agricultural labor movement have generally neglected its relationship to the struggle for land, but this is neither fair nor accurate. Analyzing the rural labor movement's historical contributions to the land struggle in Brazil, this contribution has been organized into three main periods, emphasizing social relations, institutional activism and policy changes. It argues that despite the peculiarities of different historical contexts, rural labor consistently provoked protest against policies that privileged large landholders, whose concentration of power over land and labor resources continually worsened Brazil's ranking as one of the most unequal of nations. For more than half a century, the most constant opponent of this situation among the peasantry has been the National Confederation of Workers in Agriculture (CONTAG), a corporatist organization of rural labor unions founded in 1963.     

对土地私有化之批判——兼论农村土地的社会保障功能

土地是我国农民赖以生存的物质基础,但工业化、城市化进程的加快和土地市场的国家垄断,必然蚕食大批的土地,使广大农民的生存与发展受到严重威胁,而农民的生存与发展关系到国家长治久安.如何解决土地锐减和农民生存的矛盾,如何发挥农村土地的社会保障功能,已成为迫在眉睫的严峻问题.有人提出了土地私有化的观点.认为坚持土地承包责任制,坚持最严格的土地管理制度,在此基础上实现土地流转的法律创新,是唯一符合现实需要的理性选择.     

由建设社会主义新农村看"农民工"权益保障

党的十六届五中全会提出了建设社会主义新农村的重大历史任务,这不仅是解决"三农"问题的重大战略举措,而且是一项惠及广大农民的民心工程.作为从农民中剥离出来的农民工是城市化发展的必然结果也是建设社会主义新农村的必然要求,然而面对农民工的权利伤害对建设社会主义新农村构成了一个障碍,因此有必要采取相关对策以实现建设社会主义新农村的终极目的.     

小农经济的特质及我国农地关系法制化的基本方向

在我国农地制度的变迁中,中国共产党始终把农地关系法制化放在调整社会经济关系、促进中国社会进步的重要地位.我国现行农地集体所有,家庭经营的农地制度仍具备小农经济的特质.通观世界,小农经济在欧美较早得到改造,在西方社会改造小农经济的现代化过程中,法制化成为农地制度变迁的最直接最明显的推动力量.我国农地法制化的基本方向是落实科学发展观,进一步完善现行农地法规;保障农地资源与农民的安全,明确界定农地的权利主体.     

实施固本强基工程推进社会主义新农村建设——对石家庄市村级基层党组织建设的调查与思考

农村基层党组织是建设社会主义新农村的坚强的政治和组织保障。进一步加强和改进农村基层党组织建设,不断增强农村基层党组织的创造力、凝聚力和战斗力,就成为我们当前十分重要而紧迫的任务。石家庄市的主要做法和经验是:以人为本,实施固本强基工程。需要进一步探索与思考的问题是:创新机制,建好班子,育好干部,带好队伍,创新组织设置和运行机制。     

论国有土地使用权的性质

以出让方式取得的国有土地使用权制度是我国重要的土地使用制度,国有土地使用权也是物权法要规定的重要内容之一.正确地认识并确定国有土地使用权的性质是必要的,应该充分地认识到:在我国现行的土地制度中,以出让方式获得的国有土地使用权是惟一可自由交易的土地使用权,在我国土地公有制的条件下, 一般公民与法人享有的是近似于所有权的土地使用权,在民法上土地使用权起着所有权的功能,土地使用权才是我国不动产的"自物权",土地使用权是不动产市场的基础.     

有关农村土地承包经营权两个争议问题的比较分析

在"依法治国"及发展市场经济的时代背景下,重新审视承包制下的承包经营权,并进行制度的重新设计,是我国土地制度改革中的一个重要课题.本文以现行人大法工委物权法第二次审议稿为视角,结合历史和现实的考察,对有关农村土地承包经营权的两个争议问题进行了比较分析,得出了两个相关的结论.     

社会主义新农村建设中的社会治安问题研究之一和谐社会建设中的新农村道德建设

和谐社会建设中的新农村建设首先是道德建设。要进行新农村的道德建设,就必须对我国的传统道德进行有效的梳理。国家在对农村进行物质文明建设的同时,更要加大精神文明建设的力度,真正实现自然、人和人类社会的共同、健康的发展。加强新农村的道德建设对传承我国延续几千年的道德文明,摒弃落后的、不健康的东西,重构社会主义的新型道德价值观,稳定社会治安意义重大。