Emphasizing the emergence of new institutional realities from the encounter between colonizers and colonized people, this book highlights the capacity of indigenous communities, as well as settlers themselves, to shape and transform laws and legal figures originating in the metropolis.

The chapters attest to the complexity of land property rights in real contexts and introduce into historical analysis the concept of institutional bricolage proposed by the Critical Institutionalism school of thought. Beyond the written rules (rules-in-form), social practices are what explain the establishment and evolution of sets of rules-in-use, within social and environmental frameworks conditioned by both endogenous and exogenous factors. The case studies, which span from 1510 to 1920, examine struggles and experiences of access to land (and water) on three continents, focusing on territories in present-day Brazil, Mexico, Mozambique, Kenya, the Philippines, and India. Beneath the apparent diversity of situations and outcomes lies a common denominator that underscores the agency of local societies and the dynamic nature of property relations.

The book is aimed at researchers and students of Global History, Institutional History, Economic History, Social History, Social Anthropology, and Hispanic Studies, and will also appeal to consultants in development agencies and NGOs.