Agrarian Relations, Property and Law: An Analysis of the Land Code of 1858 in the Ottoman Empire


Aytekin E. A.

MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES, cilt.45, sa.6, ss.935-951, 2009 (SSCI) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 45 Sayı: 6
  • Basım Tarihi: 2009
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1080/00263200903268694
  • Dergi Adı: MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.935-951
  • Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Contrary to the prevalent tendencies of 'state-centrism' and legal formalism in the literature, this article studies the Ottoman Land Code of 1858 not as an initiator of trends but as a product of social change. The Code recognized private property on land, enlarged liberties of landholders, and pushed inheritance rules further towards gender equality. Deeply influenced by the uneven development of the capitalist relations of production, agrarian conflict, and the complex matrix of the interests of ruling groups, Ottoman land law in the nineteenth century unmistakably evolved in the direction of modern law based on the abstract individual and full commodification of land.