Abstract

SEGURA, Juana Camacho  and  ESCOBAR, Natalia Robledo. Indivisos, Collective Schemes and Peasant Property Practices in Colombia. Antipod. Rev. Antropol. Arqueol. [online]. 2020, n.40, pp.29-51. ISSN 1900-5407.  https://doi.org/10.7440/antipoda40.2020.02.

This article examines an under-explored dimension of agrarian reform and peasant studies in Colombia: the pro indiviso property used in the parcel system -created by Law 135 of 1961-, to allocate land to peasants under a collective scheme. Based on the experience of five large estates allocated in pro indiviso to landless peasants in La Mojana (San Marcos, Sucre), it examines the articulation of agrarian regulations with customary property practices in a community in which there are family plots, collective properties and commons. This ethnographic research combines participatory fieldwork involving peasants, interviews with experts in agrarian law and former Incora and Incoder officials, and a review of secondary sources. The study’s findings reveal the mixed results of the collective scheme in terms of achieving the economic and social objectives proposed by the State, and in the establishment of rural property. They also question the agrarian individualism by which the peasantry has been represented. This analysis provides a novel perspective to peasant studies based on a perspective grounded in property policies and practices.

Keywords : Agrarian reform; Caribbean; peasants; parcel system; pro indiviso; property practices.

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