Contesting the Commons

Over centuries, African pastoralist societies have crafted institutions that enable them to survive in their harsh, semi-arid environment. Effectively managing communally held land has been one key to their success and a cornerstone of their social organization. Carolyn K. Lesorogol investigates the puzzling change over the last two decades as a number of pastoralist communities have sought to transform their land tenure system from communal to private ownership. She considers this change through an empirical, multi-method study of the process of land privatization and the economic and social outcomes of privatization at the household and community level.Using a range of qualitative and quantitative research methods, including participant observation, interviews, household surveys, experimental economics games, archival research, and use of new institutional economics, Lesorogol contributes to theories of institutional change by specifying the micro-foundations of change located in individual choices and group strategies as well as demonstrating the dynamic effects of shifts in bargaining power among actors involved in the change process.