Privatizing Property Rights and Reshaping State-Peasant Relations: A Preliminary Study of the Implementation of Ejido Reform in Michoacan, Mexico

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This is a study of the impact of the ejido reform in rural Mexico. That reform, initiated in 1991-92, is designed to make possible the eventual privatization of lands that were formerly held communally by Mexican cultivators. The project will be conducted through pilot research in the Zamora Valley, Michoac n, Mexico. This project is funded through NSF's program of Research Planning Grants for Women Scientists and Engineers. Communally held land has been a basic feature of agrarian Mexico since the time of the Mexican revolution. Critics of the ejido system claim that it hinders economic development; defenders of the system argue that its erosion will lead to increased inequality and landlessness. A study of the reform from its early stages will throw light on the merits of such opposing arguments. It will also illuminate the impact of this important reform on the social and economic lives of Mexican farmers and on Mexico's political stability and links to the world economy. Land privatization reforms have been proposed or tried in many other parts of the world, and the Mexican experience will contribute to growing scientific understanding of the consequences of such reforms. In addition to its scientific and practical importance, this grant will enable a talented young researcher to conduct pilot research to prepare a request for funding for a larger project.