Land Ownership in Russia

Land Ownership in Russia Synopsis

The keystone of political and economic reform in both tsarist and Post-Soviet Russia has been the transferral to private ownership of property previously held by either the state or in collective ownership. These reforms, through the provision of property rights, have adhered to a common aim, to stimulate individual economic activity and support the process of political reconstruction. The author explores the ideological and institutional conflict surrounding the development and role of property, the focus being placed upon the legislative provisions implemented to promote the private ownership of land. He illustrates how this conflict over the relationship between the individual and the collective, the state and the national economy, has provided both the continuity and change that characterize the social and political development of the past century. The overall approach emphasizes why the study of legal change must recognize the inter-dependency between legal reform and the culture within which the reform is enacted.