TY - JOUR
T1 - Colonial misunderstanding of an efficient peasant institution
T2 - Land settlement and mush tenure in mandate palestine, 1921-47
AU - Nadan, Amos
PY - 2003/9/1
Y1 - 2003/9/1
N2 - The accepted wisdom is that the mushā in Palestine was an archaic system that blocked any chance of development, since no one had any inducement to improve his land. But this study of the mushā, as part of a set of institutions, contradicts that wisdom. The mush in Palestine was an efficient, dynamic economic institution that facilitated investment. There was no need for land reform, which only proved destructive to the economy of the fallāhīn. It nullified the advantages inherent in the system and, unexpectedly, facilitated the transfer of lands from Arabs to Jews.
AB - The accepted wisdom is that the mushā in Palestine was an archaic system that blocked any chance of development, since no one had any inducement to improve his land. But this study of the mushā, as part of a set of institutions, contradicts that wisdom. The mush in Palestine was an efficient, dynamic economic institution that facilitated investment. There was no need for land reform, which only proved destructive to the economy of the fallāhīn. It nullified the advantages inherent in the system and, unexpectedly, facilitated the transfer of lands from Arabs to Jews.
KW - Jewish land purchase
KW - institutional change
KW - land reform
KW - musha
KW - peasant efficiency
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=34247441056&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1163/156852003322316661
DO - 10.1163/156852003322316661
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AN - SCOPUS:34247441056
SN - 0022-4995
VL - 46
SP - 320
EP - 354
JO - Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient
JF - Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient
IS - 3
ER -