Rural Tenure Systems in Albania

Abstract

It has been frequently documented, by many scholars who have studied traditional Albanian society, that prior to the communist period Albanian society contained gender bias restricting women's access to and control of property. For nearly fifty years, during the communist period of 1944-1992, Albanian families and individuals lost their rights to own land and buildings (which passed to the state), and the great majority of them became state or cooperative workers. At the same time that regime promoted the idea of gender equality in work opportunities and education. In this historical context, the issue of how men's and women's property rights are being defined in Albania takes on unusual dimensions. People face the legacy of some gender egalitarian policies of the communist system and at the same time there is potential for the reemergence of customary laws and practices that predated the communist system.