Apr 20th, 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Title
Private Property Versus Collective Property in Rural Hungary: A Test Case for the Anthropology of Sustainability
Faculty Mentor
Information
My research investigated land privatization in postsocialist Hungary and the effect of this property regime change on resource use and land production efficiency in rural communities. I developed models that illustrate the changes in land distribution as a function of the change in government policies on property and food distribution/markets. I reviewed literature and case studies focused on the transitional use of resources for the area, specifically during the privatization of land. The research addressed the question of whether privatization of land affected resource use by 1) degenerating the land or 2) by reducing the productive efficiency of the area as predicted by Garrett Hardin’s “Tragedy of the Commons” and Marginal Value Theorem, respectively.