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The post-socialist restitution of property as dispossession: Social dynamics and land development in Southern Albania

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  • Triantis, Loukas

Abstract

The article examines the post-socialist restitution of property as a process of land dispossession related to coastal tourism development. It focuses: first on Albania, a former socialist country with distinct particularities regarding property issues which call the notion of “restitution” in question and, second, on the coastal area of Himara in Southern Albania, as a case of extreme insecurity in land tenure, absent owners, intense pressures for tourism development and particular ethnocultural features. Methodologically, it builds on the concept of accumulation by dispossession but also land rent in order to examine the benefits from land development, while it mainly rests on qualitative approaches and systematic fieldwork. The article argues that the framework on the restitution of property in Albania has been key in supporting land dispossession in the area of Himara, especially linked to tourism development. In this case, the land dispossession regimes present contextual configurations regarding the specific conjuncture and land features, the scales of capital investment and ethnocultural parameters. At the same time, the article situates land dispossession within the context of the wider land development dynamics in the area of Himara. Although accumulation by dispossession tends to favour the domestic real estate companies and investment groups, the local population has also a share in the benefits from land development mainly through informal practices and the support of local networks. By recalling the notion of land rent, the article brings evidence that rents do not only stem from the post-socialist restitution of property and accumulation by dispossession, as much of the academic scholarship suggests. They also stem from diversified social dynamics and informality, which support tourism development and mobilise rent’s distributional role, especially in a context of land tenure insecurity.

Suggested Citation

  • Triantis, Loukas, 2018. "The post-socialist restitution of property as dispossession: Social dynamics and land development in Southern Albania," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 584-592.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:lauspo:v:71:y:2018:i:c:p:584-592
    DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2017.10.056
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Harvey, David, 2005. "The New Imperialism," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199278084.
    2. Costis Hadjimichalis, 2014. "Crisis and land dispossession in Greece as part of the global 'land fever'," City, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(4-5), pages 502-508, October.
    3. World Bank, 2007. "Albania Urban Sector Review," World Bank Publications - Reports 19622, The World Bank Group.
    4. Derek Hall, 2013. "Primitive Accumulation, Accumulation by Dispossession and the Global Land Grab," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(9), pages 1582-1604, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Triantis, Loukas, 2020. "Public land privatisation and commodification as a field of changing social relations: The making of the Albanian Riviera," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    2. Chanrith Ngin & Andreas Neef, 2021. "Contested Land Restitution Processes in Cambodia," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-14, May.
    3. Trembecka Anna & Kwartnik-Pruc Anita, 2018. "Problems of Real Estate Management with Respect to Claims for Restitution of Expropriated Properties," Real Estate Management and Valuation, Sciendo, vol. 26(3), pages 105-112, September.
    4. Zhllima, Edvin & Rama, Klodjan & Imami, Drini, 2021. "Agriculture land markets in transition - The inherited challenge of the post-communist land reform in Albania," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).

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