Appell, George N. (1991) Resource Management Regimes among the Swidden Agriculturists of Borneo: Does the Concept of Common Property Adequately Map Indigenous System of Ownership?

Conference: Presented at the second annual conference of the International Association for the Study of Common Property, Winnipeg, Manitoba, September 26-30, 1991.

Abstract: "Multiple interests over land and forest resources and their jural loci in Rungus society are analyzed and compared to the property systems of other swidden agriculturalists in Borneo: Kantu', Iban, Bulusu', and Bidayuh. Cross-culturally valid observational procedures are developed to distinguish the type of jural entity holding rights and incidents of ownership in order to map faithfully the contours of local property systems. This comparison illustrates the variety of jural mechanisms a collection of individuals can utilize to manage multiple interests in resources, raising the question of the usefulness of the concept of common property as presently phrased. Rights may be owned by a corporation, a corporate group, or by individuals. In the latter case, jural collectivities must be distinguished from jural aggregates. The literature on 'common property systems,' is clouded and ethnocentric by the failure to develop observational procedures that isolate the dimensions of indigenous property systems. In Borneo development planning when it proceeds in ignorance of the local property system and its management contributes to the degradation of resources."