From community ownership to community fellowship : qualitative analysis of the socio-economic consequences of asset redistribution in rural Scotland

Abstract: Understanding inequalities regarding land and asset ownership is essential to comprehending rural areas. An unbalance situation regarding the ownership of assets, especially in rural areas where people are even more dependent on land management and the resources they can get from it, makes rural society more fragile. This thesis investigates the role of asset redistribution in the development of rural communities in the Global North, where the potential of community ownership to mitigate asset ownership inequalities and improve the lives of local people has been understudied, especially compared to some cases in the Global South. This study investigates how and in what ways land redistribution can contribute to building communities and improving the well-being of rural people. The fieldwork conducted in a rural community in the south of Scotland over five weeks follows a qualitative approach mixing eighteen in-depth interviews, three participant observation sessions and four transect walks made with community group members. The data collected have been analysed through the Community Capacity Framework, using the literature on the community ownership model and the concept of commoning. The case study demonstrates how the community follows a spiralling up trajectory led by positive retroaction thanks to the initiatives conducted by different community groups leading to the building of commons. In other words, the study shows that asset redistribution leading to community ownership benefits the local community by strengthening social ties. These significant social connections among local people allow the emergence of new collective projects reinforcing the economic attractiveness of the town and its surroundings and improving the well-being of the local people. The present paper contributes to the existing knowledge by demonstrating that the building of material commons can contribute to the creation/reinforcement of social bonds among local people. These newly-shaped social ties contribute to the formation and reinforcing the community spirit, making local people likely more able to answer present and future crises collectively.