Property Rights and Economic Development: Land and Natural Resources in Southeast Asia and Oceania. (Reviews).

Williams, Nancy M.

Edited by Toon van Meiji and Franz von Benda-Beckmann.

London: Kegan Paul International, 1999 Pp. 295

The essays in this volume deal with changing property relations in Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Australia and New Zealand from colonial to postcolonial regimes. The rationale for this collection of esssays is that 'the relationship between property rights and economic development is particularly topical in Southeast Asia and Oceania [because of the] recent and expanded processes of globalisation and the ever-increasing involvement of foreign economic enterprises and donor agencies in national economies' (p.7). The essays demonstrate that colonial and post-colonial impositions of regulations governing property rights have little to differentiate them as far as their effects on the social and economic status of indigenous people is concerned. The argument of both regimes, especially the latter, has been that registering titles would ensure uniformity in property dealings, certainty of individual property rights (a central value), and that as a result, economic benefits would flow to all property holder s and users.

Post-colonial land rights reform aiming at 'uniformity of property rights' is the 'second wave in the process of imposing European notions of property rights on local populations in Third World states' (p.5). The editors could have added 'and on indigenous groups in the Fourth World as well', although they remark that indigenous peoples in Australia and New Zealand have had some success in challenging the legal doctrines of the colonisers. In the first wave, 'European notions of sovereignty and ownership were largely used to legitimate the dispossession of local indigenous populations [and the] second wave aimed at transforming the property rights of the entire population' because it is assumed to be essential to economic development.

Yet as described in the areas of study, local systems of land and resource use have remained to varying degrees intact and thus a situation of legal pluralism has existed, whether de facto or de jure (as in areas of Indonesia where adat law is officially recognised, and arguably in Australia following enactment of the Native Title Act (1993) and in New Zealand following recognition of the continuing force of the Treaty of Waitangi (1975). The difference between formalised and legally regulated exchange of ownership rights in expanded markets, and the exchange of property rights which are not protected by state law does not explain the difference between prosperity and poverty. And despite increasing concerns about 'sustainable' resource management and the (limited) recognition of indigenous peoples' role in resource management, the globalisation of European and American economic, political and legal values following the end of Cold War has led to a new wave in law and development movements (p.6).

Franz and Keebet von Benda-Beckmann's esssay proposes a framework for the description and functional analysis of property rights (drawing on Goldschmidt's 1966 Comparative Functionalism); it aims to provide 'an analytical framework for giving due attention to the variation of empirical property relationships at the different layers of social organisation and to their multifunctional characteristics' (p.21). In view of the mixed assessment of the appropriateness of 'bundle of rights' notion in connection with applications for recognition of native title in Australia, it is interesting that the von Benda-Beckmanns commend it. They say, 'The bundle of rights metaphor is a useful tool for analysing the component parts of property rights and obligations' (p. 25). They also note the lineage of the metaphor in the history of legal anthropology from Maine to Gluckman, Goody and Leach (p.42, f.n. 12).

Indira Simbolon for the Batak on Lake Toba, Herman Slaats with respect to the Indonesian state, and Willem Wolters for the period 1850 to 1920 in the Philippines, provide case studies showing the over-all negative social and economic effects of changing policies and legal regimes on local agrarian societies. Helmut Holzknecht analyses the impact of foreign investment and global economic developments on Melanesian forms of resource management in Papua New Guinea, and finds that customary land tenure does not constitute an impediment to economic development.

Anton Ploeg examines the factors promoting and inhibiting increases in agricultural production in Papua New Guinea on land held in customary tenure as well as the small portion of land currently held in a form of European tenure; he also finds that Melanesian tenure does not impede economic growth. Leontine Visser's essay deals with Melanesian groups in the Bird's Head region of Irian Jaya; despite the recent establishment of forestry concessions and transmigration enclaves, where she finds that state intervention for 'development' has in fact strengthened social ties between families through transactions concerning the exchange of women and land.

Ad Boorsboom discusses the political and economic implications of the Mabo decision as a major turning point in the relationship between European settlers and Aboriginal people because of the implications for the issue of ownership in general and ensuing challenges to the legality of the dispossession of Aboriginal land. Eric Venbrux examines the impact of Tiwi involvement in tourism on Melville and Bathurst Islands in terms of social, economic and ecological consequences. He focuses on negotiations among traditional owners in relation to specific claims to land where tourist enterprises are located. He concludes that the ecological impacts of tourism are serious and the economic benefits are marginal, but that the reinvigorated local land-related politics strengthen Tiwi cultural identity.

Toon van Meijl looks at the issues surrounding the New Zealand government's compensation payments to Maori for the historic confiscations and alienation of Maori land. The agreements provide monetary settlements to several predominantly rural-based tribal organisations, although approximately 80% of the Maori population is urban based. A central question is the extent to which compensation agreements with tribal groups may contribute to Maori aims of economic development and, ultimately, to political sovereignty. Van Meijl concludes that at least the economic implications of most agreements will be marginal for the majority of the Maori population and will contribute to further social and economic differentiation among them.

This is an interesting collection, in particular for the ethnographic case studies. It will be useful for finer analyses of the complex relationships between local indigenous regimes of land tenure and resource management and those imposed by states, especially from the point of view of the economic incorporation of indigenous peoples in an increasingly globalised economy.