Doctoral Dissertation Research: Property Rights and Land Use in Changing Rights, Changing Forests: Sabah, Malaysia

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9511470 Peluso This field research examines the impact of a changing political economy on legal and customary property law systems and practices among Dusun villagers around Mount Kinabalu in Sabah, Malaysia. The communal forest resources management practices of the Dusun were given legal status in 1930. Now villagers believe that the privatization of land and resources within their community forests (legally, "Native Reserves") is necessary for economic survival. If forest reserves are moved from community management to private ownership or sold to outside interests, dramatic changes in the use, protection, and distribution of these resources will probably occur. The focus of this research will be on the ways in which transformation from customary laws to a formal legal system has affected local property rights and land use practices and resulted in conflicts between and within communities over use and ownership of land. It will expand the body of knowledge that emphasizes the importance of integrating resource management and property rights law systems within the larger historical and political-economic context to understand the behavior of resource users. It will probably demonstrate that property rights and control over and access to resources are crucial factors affecting resource management systems. %%%% This field research examines the impact of a changing political economy on legal and customary property law systems and practices among Dusun villagers around Mount Kinabalu in Sabah, Malaysia. The villagers now believe that the privatization of land and resources within their previously-communal forests is necessary for economic survival. If forest reserves are moved from community management to private ownership or sold to outside interests, dramatic changes in the use, protection, and distribution of these resources will probably occur. The focus of this research will be on the ways in which transformation from customary laws to a formal legal system has affected local prope rty rights and land use practices and resulted in conflicts between and within communities over use and ownership of land. ****