Queen Mary University of London HST 5112 , 2011-12

1. Bedouin, fellahs and sultans:History of the Islamic CountrysideWeek 9:Agrarian Reforms, 1950 -2000 Queen Mary University of London HST 5112, 2011-12 • Free Officers in Egypt (1952) • Agrarian reform in Egypt • Iran: Shah’s land reform • Islamic Revolution (1979)

2. Egypt, 1930s • Political dominance of large land-owners with British support • Large private estates, with tenant farmers • Vulnerable small-holders (setting of Egyptian Earth) and landless villagers • Reliance on cotton Final scene from al-ard (Egyptian Earth), Directed Y. Chahine, 1969

3. Free Officers coup, 1952 • Nationalist, anti-British, against land-owning elites • Arab socialism – state-led development & Nationalization • Building of Aswan Dam: increase in year-round irrigation

4. Land Reforms, 1952 - 1969 • Land Reform Laws (1952, 1961): • Ceiling to private ownership of land • Confiscated land distributed to landless villagers (about 20% of cultivated land) • Fixed low rental fees for tenants, and security of usufruct • Creation of compulsory peasant co-operatives • Government direct control over production & marketing

5. Land Reforms, 1952-1969 • Effects of Land Reforms: • Decline of large estates and rise in peasant small-holdings (63.5% to 20%, 13% to 38%) • But in 1986, 40% of villagers are landless • Fixed low prices for agricultural produce • Average growth in agriculture doesn’t keep pace with demography, despite reform & Aswan Dam

6. Liberalisation, 1970-2000 • ‘Opening up’ of market economy • Land law 96 (1992): • liberalization of agrarian land market • Abolition of fixed low rents for tenants • Tenants (~30% of peasants) could be evicted from their plots Today, 57% of Egypt is rural Hosni Mubarak, President of Egypt (1981 – 2011)

7. Iran: Agrarian Reforms, 1960-2000 Comparison with Egypt: Decentralized Tribal & pastoral domination

8. Iran, 1920 - 1960 • British-supported monarchy by Reza Shah • Old iqta‘-like system (Persian: tuyul) replaced by private ownership • Big landowners (royal families, local notables, tribal chiefs) own 2/3 of land • Sharecropper tenants are 40% of villagers (rest are small-holders or landless)

9. Shah’s Land Reform, 1960s • Motives: • Weakening the landowning classes • Thwarting communist revolution • Transition from ‘feudalism’ to capitalism

10. Shah’s Land Reform, 1960s • Ceiling on landownership of one village • Transfer of ownership to tenants – affects more than 50% of cultivated land • Organization of village co-operatives • Promotion of mechanized & commercial farming

11. Shah’s Land Reform • Effects of reform: • Disappearance of tenant – sharecroppers class and of political power of landed elites • Landless villagers remain landless • Increases in production and cultivated area • Urbanization and demographic expansion (50% live in cities by 1979) • Rural migrants: Khomeini’s foot-soldiers?

12. 1979 – Islamic Revolution • Urban revolution: bazaar, clergy, intellectuals • Islamic & popular revolution • Landless villagers and small-holders protest & seize remaining large estates • Communist activism in countryside

13. 1979, Islamic Revolution • A second proposed land reform (1979), further limiting maximum ownership; • ‘Clause C’ approved in Parliament (1981) • Religious objections: Is it Islamic to confiscate private property? • Economic objections: dramatic land reform would stifle agricultural economy • Repeal of law (1986), legalization of land seizures during the Revolution

14. Land Reforms in Iran • Shah’s land reform: initiative from the state and US; dramatic shift in ownership of land; downfall of landowning elites; did it lead to Islamic Revolution? • Islamic Republic’s land Reform: initiative from peasants; limited effect on ownership; spread of ‘petty capitalism’ by small farmers