Political and Economic Determinants of Communal Land Titling

• In Event: The Politics of Land and Natural Resource Conflict

Abstract

Despite widespread legislation recognizing collective land rights of indigenous, traditional, and afrodescendent communities in Latin America, titling of that land remains limited. Why do some communities obtain titles over others? I examine this question in the context of quilombos — communities of afrodescendents entitled to collective land ownership in Brazil. I compile a mix of qualitative, administrative, electoral, conflict, and remote sensing data to examine municipal-level variation in the titling outcomes of more than 2,400 communities over time. This paper contributes to a growing literature on the political economy of collective land titling.

Author

• Clara Bicalho