Cartwright, Andrew L. (1999) Implementing land reform in post-Communist Romania. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

This thesis examines the implementation of ownership reforms following the collapse of
Communist rule in Romania in 1989. It concentrates upon the rural sector and, in
particular, the question of what to do with the collective farms.
The aim has been to provide a critical account of the roots of the post-Communist land
question, going back as far as the agrarian situation in the last century. To this end,
regard is had to the land question in the pre-Communist era, concentrating on the
efforts made by the state to create a sustainable system of land tenure. The second
part of the work investigates how the Communist regime reformed land use and
agricultural production, in particular, the methods by which the private control of land
was transformed during collectivisation. In this way, the recent land reforms are linked
to a much longer history of struggle over land.
The objective has been to examine the legal process of implementing post-Communist
land reforms as a means whereby history is rewritten, both nationally and locally. The
land reforms are, partly, the official recognition of abuses committed by the former
regime and yet, they are also a means of restructuring the country's agricultural sector.
As in other countries in eastern Europe, Communist rule in Romania transformed a
predominantly agrarian society into an industrial one. Before the Communists almost
three-quarters of the population lived and worked on the land. By the time President
Nicolae Ceausescu fell, the proportion was less than a third. The land question in post-Communist
Romania centred on the extent to which the need to compensate former
landowners could direct the content of reform.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DR Balkan Peninsula
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Romania -- History -- 1989-, Land reform -- Romania, Communism and agriculture -- Romania
Official Date:	August 1999
Dates:	Date Event August 1999 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	School of Law
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Pogany, Istvan S.
Sponsors:	Economic and Social Research Council (Great Britain) (ESRC) ; University of Warwick. Dept. of Law
Extent:	[x], 228, [8] p.
Language:	eng

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