Subjectivities of Owning Land (SOL): Land Redistribution and the Nation State in the Baltics Across the 20th Century

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The issue of who should own land is one of the core questions across social, economic and political systems around the globe. For proprietors, land can guarantee subsistence, but also social status. For modern states, on the other hand, the ability to control land tenure (and agricultural production) has become increasingly linked to national sovereignty. Projects of land redistribution aim to deepen the relationship between the rural population and the state by shaping social identities and providing legitimacy to the state. For this reason, land distribution and land reform play a crucial role in revolutions and political upheavals. Land reforms have therefore become a measure of democratisation, economic empowerment and social integration. The project 'Subjectivities of Owning Land' investigates the extent to which successive projects of land redistribution have shaped the history of the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) throughout the 20th century and have contributed to a very specific relationship between society and state. It brings the land reforms of the interwar nation states that emerged after the collapse of the Russian Empire and the privatisation after the breakup of the Soviet Union into a common frame. The land reforms of the interwar period and privatisation in the 1990s played a central political and economic role for state-building and for the integration into a new international order. Both were closely intertwined, as the privatisation of the Baltic States, which became independent in 1991, explicitly used the interwar land reforms as reference points and blueprints. The project focuses on the highly transformative project of land redistribution of both eras through an interdisciplinary analytical framework that focuses on subjectivities to examine the long-term effects on societies. It examines how uncertainty concerning the future of property norms shaped projects of land redistribution, how land redistribution changed concepts of the self, individuals, families and gender roles, communities and societies, and thus shaped identities, but also loyalties. The project aims to strengthen the strategic partnership of the Herder Institute and the University of Birmingham by bringing together leading academic expertise and unique archival collections on Baltic history. The team will work closely with project partners in the Baltic States. Through its complex transfer strategy, a series of workshops and visiting fellowships, the project outcomes will be of sustained significance for a broad range of scholarly disciplines and audiences.