Doctoral Dissertation Research: Comparative Land Tenure Conflicts in the Mayan Tropics

本博士论文研究完成了伯利兹、危地马拉和墨西哥热带土地冲突的跨国比较研究，检查了政府机构的土地政策，因为它们适用于热带森林保护和玛雅习俗。这项研究区分了国家和土著土地权属制度及其所承受的社会压力。对土地保有权冲突、民族活力和环境因素之间联系的了解，为各国政府选择的具体养护管理形式提供了信息。两个星期将在威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校的土地所有权中心图书馆度过，然后在墨西哥四个州、伯利兹和危地马拉进行为期六个月的实地调查。该研究包括访谈、历史文献以及在墨西哥和危地马拉开展的案例研究。受访者将包括来自国家政府、地方办事处、非政府组织、社会政治组织的代表，以及作为农民、自然资源工作者和土著领导人的个人。历史和法律研究将在墨西哥四个热带州的大学和伯利兹的档案馆进行，完成先前15个月的实地调查。

This doctoral dissertation research completes a cross-national comparative study of tropical land conflicts in Belize, Guatemala and Mexico, examining land policies by governmental institutions as they apply to tropical forest conservation and Mayan customary practices. The study differentiates national and indigenous land tenure systems and the social pressures bearing on them. Knowledge of the linkages between land tenure conflicts, ethnic vitality and environmental factors inform the particular forms of conservation management chosen by individual governments. Two weeks will be spent at the Land Tenure Center Library at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, followed by a six month field investigation in four Mexican states, Belize and Guatemala. The research consists of interviews, historical documentation, and the development of case studies in Mexico and Guatemala. Interviewees will include representatives from national governments, local offices, non-governmental organizations, socio-political organizations, and individuals operating as farmers, natural resource workers, and indigenous leaders. Historical and legal research will occur at universities in four tropical Mexican states and at archives in Belize, completing fifteen months of previous field investigation.