It examines how three waves of land redistribution initiatives have shaped the history of the Baltic states throughout the 20th century. The land reforms created a distinctive relationship between society and the state and also had a significant impact on people’s subjectivities. By tracing the combined effects of the interwar land reforms, Soviet collectivisation and post-1991 privatisation on people’s concepts of ownership, the project connects profound historical ruptures in the region.

The question of land ownership is at the centre of political, economic and social systems worldwide. For landowners, owning land represents not only a livelihood but also a marker of social status. For modern nation states, the regulation of land ownership structures and agricultural production has increasingly become a means of asserting sovereignty. Land redistribution measures aim to strengthen the ties between rural populations and the state by shaping social roles and legitimising state power. As a result, such measures often play a decisive role in revolutions and processes of political transition, becoming symbols of democratisation, economic reform and social cohesion.

The SOL project examines how successive land redistribution measures influenced the historical trajectories of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania throughout the 20th century, fostering a unique dynamic between state and society. By placing the interwar land reforms following the collapse of the Russian Empire, Soviet collectivisation and post-Soviet privatisation within a unified analytical framework, SOL demonstrates how each phase served different purposes: while the interwar reforms and those of the 1990s were central to nation-building and integration into new global systems, collectivisation was key to the Soviet transformation of the region.

Using an interdisciplinary approach that places subjectivities at its centre, SOL investigates how land redistribution reshaped individual and collective identities over time. It explores how uncertainty surrounding property rights influenced reform policies, how these policies affected personal self-understandings, family structures, gender roles and community dynamics – and ultimately shaped both identities and loyalties within Baltic societies.

The project aims to work closely with scholars from the Baltic region across various fields of the social sciences and humanities. To this end, it maintains active exchanges with universities in the region by organising workshops, hosting visiting researchers and contributing to SOL’s research outputs through jointly authored articles, special issues of academic journals, conference panels and other forms of collaboration.

The project is funded by the UK-German Humanities Research Funding Initiative (AHRC/DFG) and aims to strengthen strategic cooperation between the University of Birmingham, the Martin Opitz Library in Herne and the Herder Institute in Marburg by bringing together leading academic expertise with outstanding archival holdings on Baltic history.

Further information about the project can be found here:
https://mob.subjectivities-of-owning-land.de/s/Home.html