As will become clear in this article, the author's position shifts from pessimist to optimist as this writing progresses. The first section presents some of the difficulties that Albania is experiencing with respect to the immovable property registration system (IPRS) project (pessimist's...

This paper argues that the capacity of indigenous groups to engage effectively in environmental planning activities, at different levels, is crucial to securing land justice and community security. This argument is made against the backdrop of tensions between indigenous peoples residing in...

This paper is a compilation of three reports written over the 1993-96 period in the development and testing of a cadastral surveying and mapping methodology to support land registration. The sections cover (1) fieldwork to evaluate options for cadastral surveying and mapping in Albania, (2) the...

This literature review focuses on recent and contemporary tenancy structures in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Tenancy for purposes of this review is broadly defined to include different leasing arrangements such sharecropping, labor tenancy, fixed cash rentals, and reverse leasing. We have...

The core thesis is that Western neoclassical economics and law (particularly Anglo-American) have a peculiar cultural history that biases Western-trained economists and lawyers against common property systems like those found among Africans and American Indians. This Western cultural bias is...

This paper attempts to evaluate whether Albanian rural social structure has changed to the extent that individual rights and protection of those rights have become important policy questions. If the evaluation suggests that rural Albanians retain the set of family-oriented norms and beliefs that...

As of 1998, the land tenure situation along Guyana's coast was marked by disarray and insecurity. Renewed interest in land following the economic and political liberalization of the early 1990s spawned land conflicts and exacerbated their severity. This paper, based on fieldwork conducted in...

This paper does not presume to offer definitive answers to complex questions raised around the new emphasis on "local communities" in Mozambique. Such answers vary and depend upon the sociopolitical histories of each community. Instead, the paper briefly explores the concept of local community...

The degradation of Albania's land resources is a serious impediment to the welfare of the people of Albania as well as that of future generations. Resolving land degradation requires the concerted action of governmental and nongovernmental agencies. The purpose of this paper is to describe how a...

Moving toward a market-oriented economy involves the development of various types of markets. One of the first steps of the transition in Albania has been the property privatization process, that is, the transformation of state property into private holdings. A critical issue encountered in this...