ABSTRACT
As is apparent from most of the chapters in this volume, land and community ownership and management of assets are fundamental to economies and societies throughout northern Europe. While there are differences in tenure across the Nordic countries, they tend to be dominated by smallholdings or the communities themselves; contrasting with this, in the Celtic countries large scale, and often absentee, land ownership and feudal rights have long been the norm and so development has been influenced by and dependent on a different set of imperatives from where those who live on the land are also strongly involved in its ownership and management. This contribution to the book outlines the fundamental changes taking place in land ownership, and development contingent on this, in remote and difficult to access areas of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. The central argument is that the change in land ownership has created a space within which local people can nurture and develop the capabilities which will help communities to sustain and grow. The specific type and nature of economic development depends on the particularities of each community buy-out. A common theme to emerge is a reliance on sustainable economic strategies and policies. The chapter first offers a brief historical perspective of the significance of land ownership in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, before describing the economic context of the region. It then presents a theoretical perspective, utilising the rules and property rights literature, articulated in particular by Ostrom (2008) and Schlager and Ostrom (1992), to analyse the processes at work which have created opportunities for economic development within these communities. The chapter then focuses on case studies of community buy-outs to illustrate the theoretical underpinnings and finally offers a conclusion, policy recommendations and ideas for further research.
