Colonization and the Transformation of the ‘Waqf’ System

• In Event: The Political Economy of Rule Law: Courts, Land Rights and Legal Recognition

Abstract

Using records on the religious endowments from the National Archives in Tunisia and the Center for Diplomatic Archives in France, this paper examines how French rule interacted with the ‘waqf,’ or religious endowment, system in Tunisia. Through the systematic collection and coding of endowment contracts from the precolonial and colonial period, this paper traces how colonization transforms the ownership patterns of religious endowments. Specifically, I argue that the impact of colonization on the waqf system was not uniform throughout the country, with the bulk of French land purchases occurring in Tunisia’s more agricultural regions. Moreover, through a study of the type of land contracts negotiated, I show that areas that experienced higher French purchases were also more likely to witness land exchanges that moved valuable land outside of the endowment system. This research highlights one mechanism through which colonization weakened traditional institutions in North Africa.

Author

• Alexandra Domike Blackman, Stanford University