ABSTRACT
All through the stormy and tortured years of the war, a process of reform of land ownership and marriage laws has been taking place in the liberated areas. In terms of affecting women’s position, the two transformations are closely interlinked. The fact that women did not traditionally own land meant that they had no control over the only means of production, let alone over the products of their labour. This economic powerlessness was reflected within the family and was institutionalized in the rules of marriage. The processes of change occurred quite independently of each other, however, and to understand them it is necessary to look at them separately.
