ABSTRACT
The 1992 reform to Article 27 of the Mexican Constitution clearly has negative consequences for many rural women who live and work on ejido land but who are not ejidatarias. Because the certification process converts land from a family resource to individual property, women and children who are not directly named as successors are left with what is referred to as el derecho de tanto (Botey Estapé 1991). This consists of the rights of family members to have the first shot at buying land if the titleholder decides to sell it. And because no more land will be redistributed, women who currently do not have access to land (like men in the same position) have little chance of ever getting it. In sum, rural women should not count on making a living from the land, and many of those who do should not count on having either legal use rights or ownership of the land they toil on. We could end our discussion of the impact of the reformed Article 27 on women at this point and go no farther.
