Challenging Access to Land in Central European Countries: Some Comments on the “Bundle of Rights” and “Webs of Power”

Access to land is often presented as a matter of simple national legal norms. This article develops an empirical analysis of how the conditions of access to farm land were set up in the wake of the restoration of private property as part of the transition to a market economy, and then changed follow...

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Main Author: Marie-Claude Maurel
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Instytut Rozwoju Wsi i Rolnictwa Polskiej Akademii Nauk 2025-04-01
Series:Wieś i Rolnictwo
Subjects:
Online Access:https://kwartalnik.irwirpan.waw.pl/wir/article/view/982
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author Marie-Claude Maurel
author_facet Marie-Claude Maurel
author_sort Marie-Claude Maurel
collection DOAJ
description Access to land is often presented as a matter of simple national legal norms. This article develops an empirical analysis of how the conditions of access to farm land were set up in the wake of the restoration of private property as part of the transition to a market economy, and then changed following the accession of Central European countries to the EU. It shows how legal and social norms overlap, combine and contradict each other, reflecting the evolving power dynamics between land holders, land owners or farmers, land-market control agencies and national authorities. Land concentration is the result of competition between social actors to capture and consolidate a “bundle of rights” over land and capital. Recent changes in land-tenure regulations have eased the emergence of “webs of power” that are characteristic of a new agrarian capitalism.
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spelling doaj-art-d22f26e703d54d3dafc0d61822cddfa62025-08-20T02:30:28ZengInstytut Rozwoju Wsi i Rolnictwa Polskiej Akademii NaukWieś i Rolnictwo0137-16732657-52132025-04-014 (205)133510.53098/wir.2024.4.205/01906Challenging Access to Land in Central European Countries: Some Comments on the “Bundle of Rights” and “Webs of Power”Marie-Claude Maurel0https://orcid.org/0009-0004-8641-7989Marie-Claude Maurel, Professor, em., École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, 54 Boulevard Raspail, 75006 Paris, France, member of Académie d’Agriculture de FranceAccess to land is often presented as a matter of simple national legal norms. This article develops an empirical analysis of how the conditions of access to farm land were set up in the wake of the restoration of private property as part of the transition to a market economy, and then changed following the accession of Central European countries to the EU. It shows how legal and social norms overlap, combine and contradict each other, reflecting the evolving power dynamics between land holders, land owners or farmers, land-market control agencies and national authorities. Land concentration is the result of competition between social actors to capture and consolidate a “bundle of rights” over land and capital. Recent changes in land-tenure regulations have eased the emergence of “webs of power” that are characteristic of a new agrarian capitalism.https://kwartalnik.irwirpan.waw.pl/wir/article/view/982access to landproperty rightsland ownershipbundle of rightswebs of power
spellingShingle Marie-Claude Maurel
Challenging Access to Land in Central European Countries: Some Comments on the “Bundle of Rights” and “Webs of Power”
Wieś i Rolnictwo
access to land
property rights
land ownership
bundle of rights
webs of power
title Challenging Access to Land in Central European Countries: Some Comments on the “Bundle of Rights” and “Webs of Power”
title_full Challenging Access to Land in Central European Countries: Some Comments on the “Bundle of Rights” and “Webs of Power”
title_fullStr Challenging Access to Land in Central European Countries: Some Comments on the “Bundle of Rights” and “Webs of Power”
title_full_unstemmed Challenging Access to Land in Central European Countries: Some Comments on the “Bundle of Rights” and “Webs of Power”
title_short Challenging Access to Land in Central European Countries: Some Comments on the “Bundle of Rights” and “Webs of Power”
title_sort challenging access to land in central european countries some comments on the bundle of rights and webs of power
topic access to land
property rights
land ownership
bundle of rights
webs of power
url https://kwartalnik.irwirpan.waw.pl/wir/article/view/982
work_keys_str_mv AT marieclaudemaurel challengingaccesstolandincentraleuropeancountriessomecommentsonthebundleofrightsandwebsofpower