From collectivity to community. Reflections on the property rights in Llanchu, Peru

Abstract

The community is a very important institution in the rural areas of Peru, especially in the Andes. It is admitted that the common management of land is one of its main feature. The agrarian reform of 1969 represents a very important event in that perspective as communities recognized by the state received a collective property title for their land. Through ethnographical data’s from the community of Llanchu (Calca, Cusco), we will show how obtaining the status of peasant community and the title have been fundamental elements in the process of formation and structuration of the community in sociological terms. We will focus on the legal pluralism and its generative dimension to show how external decisions had internal consequences at a local level.