There have been two different trends in research on land systems in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Anthropological studies have often dealt with land tenure systems or the nature of property inheritance and exchange in order to grasp kinship relations and social structures in imagined 'traditional' communities. However, this has been criticized for insufficient consideration of the social dynamism or changes brought about by interaction with outside worlds. In contrast, in the fields of development and agricultural economics, discussion has been accumulating about the perspectives and results of various kinds of policies on land administration, but with less regard to the custom or tradition of local communities.
Recently, some studies have taken into consideration the vulnerability of smallholders who experience a transition from traditional land tenure systems to new land registration systems or situations of legal plurality. With some exceptions, however, their arguments are focused on the friction and rivalry between governments and smallholders.
In this paper I discuss the process in which indigenous smallholders have been becoming conscious of proprietary rights of land through the introduction of commercial tree crops or the acceptance of new land systems. This study is based on field research among the communities of the Iban, shifting cultivators of Sarawak, Malaysia, whose society was based on their own customary law but which has been confronted with drastic legal changes brought about by colonial rule and the ensuing independent government of Sarawak.
According to the customary land law of the Iban, the first clearer of primary forest holds right to use the parcel of land and such usufruct may be inherited as long as it is remembered. When the land registration system was introduced into the study area (Kanowit) at the beginning of this century, most of the Iban hesitated to register their customary lands, because they were still satisfied with their customary land tenure system and thought it absurd to pay a survey fee, annual rent or registration fee. Instead, the Iban were eager to plant rubber trees introduced at the time which was almost the same as the introduction of the land registration system. They planted rubber trees on dry paddy fields after harvest because it was much easier to utilize fallow land than felling thick forest.
The use of fallow land for cash cropping has recently been evaluated by some scholars, who have argued that land use in rotation (for example, paddy field-young rubber garden-matured rubber garden-paddy field) is sustainable ecologically as well as economically. In the research area, however, the purpose of planting rubber was not only for tapping but also to claim that the land was continuously occupied by the feller. If they leave fallow land without any perennial trees, it is more likely to fail to be remembered as a distinct boundary after some decades and thus it becomes difficult to be imparted to the next generation. In contrast, rubber gardens, which exist as permanent farmland, preserve the boundary of one's land to defend it from another's invasion. By the 1970s, rubber gardens thus rapidly increased in number and spread over hilly areas and have been left standing even after abrupt fluctuations in the price of rubber.
Paddy farming as a subsistence activity of the Iban has also changed. In brief, the diffusion of agricultural poison and fertilizer in the 1950s made it possible to shorten the fallow period or even to repeatedly cultivate the same field, and the construction of an irrigation system in 1968 stimulated their wet paddy farming. In addition, due to the population decrease caused by continuous out-migration since the 1980s, the annual production of paddy has fallen.

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The purpose of this paper is to clarify the actual situation of land reclamation caused by the local landlord in Medieval Japan, focusing on the relationship between his residence and the evolution of irrigation systems. This paper lends weight to studies of village landscapes in Medieval Japan, consisting of settlement, landlord's residence, irrigation canals and paddy fields. It seems reasonable to suppose that the social structure of the seigneurial regime is reflected in the spatial structure of Medieval landscapes.
Considering irrigation systems from a spatial point of view, the author demonstrates that the location of the landlord's residence is closely related to the structure of paddy field irrigation in the Medieval Period. It followed that the local landlord constructed irrigation systems, and reclaimed waste land such as terrace surfaces and alluvial fans. Particularly in the early Medieval Period, the local landlord was concerned with the formation of the manorial system, being in complete control of Kannou-with rights being mainly based on water supply.
The case study of the Ane River basin made it clear that the local landlord-Kokujin-Ryoushu-strengthened his control over irrigation in the 14th century. It has been generally considered that the developing village community, So-son, was responsible for the construction of irrigation systems and the reorganization of villages in the latter Middle Ages. However, the author demonstrates that the role of the local landlord in such situations was much more important than had been expected since it is obvious that some nucleated settlements were formed under his leadership. The spatial structure of such nucleated settlements reflects the process of Kokujin-Ryoushu expanding his territory by making his branch families invade the villages.
The author considers that the purpose of studying landscape is not only to restore the different components of landscape to their original state, but also to clarify the driving forces behind its formation. Therefore, in future, it will be more important to emphasize the formation process of landscape in any historical geographical inquiry.

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This paper aims to clarify current trends and issues in studies of swidden agriculture (shifting cultivation) and its societies in the tropics. These studies are characterized by multidisciplinarity and a close relation to global issues concerning environmental and ethnic problems. In order to solve these overriding problems, it is suggested that diverse interests are rearranged among these studies and that they be integrated into the context of problem-solving from a pragmatist standpoint. Keeping such a viewpoint in mind, I have attempted to reexamine relevant case studies from these three contexts: (1) relationships between agricultural technology and regional environment (2) diachronic aspects of shifting cultivation and problems of reconstructing environmental history (3) socio-economic change in local societies accompanying the globalization of politico-economic systems. The results are summarized as follows.
(1) A typical argument on the relationship between the physical environment and swidden technology was that of Geertz (1963), who argued that swidden cultivation 'simulates' tropical forest ecosystems. Many field studies have been carried out to examine the appropriateness of his argument (Rappaport 1971), and some have clarified the regional diversity of swidden systems and technologies which have a close relation to the diversity of regional environments (Hames 1983; Vickers 1983).
Technological diversity can be primarily understood as an adaptation to the diversity of the physical environment. It can be best explained by the contrast between the humid tropics and savanna environments. For instance, 'slash/mulch systems' of swidden agriculture observed in the humid tropics can be said to be the technology which has adapted to the uncertainty of the seasonal rainfall pattern (Sato 1995; Thurston 1997). In contrast, citemene systems, which prevail in the Zambian savanna, is the technology which makes full use of the 'burning effect', making up for infertile savanna soils (Araki 1998). Various types of cyclic 'field and fallow' systems are the result of such technological selections in indigenous societies.
Not only the physical environment, however, but also other multiple factors influence technological selection. One of the most important is the relationship between population and productivity. Among the arguments related to this problem, noteworthy is the fact that, historically, state power has affected the intensification of swidden societies, rather than the popularly accepted view of attributing it to internal population pressure (Dove 1983).
(2) There still exists a deep-rooted tradition of an illogical jump to connect indigenous shifting cultivation with global environmental degradation, such as deforestation. While there are not enough empirical data to show diachronic relationships between shifting cultivation and global environmental change, several case studies prove that indigenous cultivators have played a positive role in keeping and promoting community forests for subsistence purposes (Fairhead and Leach 1996).
We should note, on the other hand, that there are ambiguous and complicated factors in the meaning of fallow and resettlement of the swidden cycle. In the context of long-term environmental change, we should give careful consideration to the combinational aspects between the long-term 'resettlement cycle' and short-term fallow systems. The long-term aspect has not been seriously questioned because of a lack of verification sources, but recent technological developments in remote sensing will improve the situation. Such a direction, anyway, must be combined with empirical data through intensive observations, so as not to misinterpret the implications of phenomenal change in the tropical environment.
(3) Since there is no local society which has never come into contact with a state government and the global economy,

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In recent years, there has been much debate over the social production of space and the relationship between social subject and space. The author, emphasizing the social structural context, contributes to this debate by identifying social space focused on one district. This paper seeks to reveal the significant relationship in which society and space are reconstructed in the late modern era, considering the differences between subjective space and objective space, mass behavior during weekend nights, and the factors influencing the mechanism of perception. To put it concretely, the purpose of this paper is to explain how youths, between the ages of 15 and 29, use the space and act in the night amusement quarter applying the concept of social space, and to examine the experiences of this generation using the ethnographical method.
A case study was carried out in the EKIMAE district, the redeveloped area in front of Toyama station, Toyama City. EKIMAE is a commonly used name for the space. Social space refers to subjective social space expressed as a mental map depicted in the youths' own way. On the other hand, objective social space is the space bounded by the regulator of public space, the Toyama Police Department, which is a police patrolling area defined by their own territorial perception in order to monitor and control the populace. Neither space, objective and subjective, is an official administrative district.
The remarkable result of various examinations of these spaces is that NANPA spot, a place where girl or boy hunting are conducted, is equivalent to subjective social space and plays an important role for the youth to maintain their identity. Examining the way in which commodities were selected by the youth in the questionnaire, it was demonstrated that various commodities are obstacles to their entry. Furthermore, when they participate in the space as an actor or observer, space functions as theater in a high consumption society. As such, the space where youths encounter one another is constructed as subjective social space and they therefore tend to feel their perceived territory as home.
This analysis assists us in understanding the quality of late modern places and how subject and place become inextricably intertwined in the context of social structure.

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This paper analyzes the changing industrial structure of Appalachia. The analysis is based on time-series data on income, earnings, and employment from the Regional Economic Information System (REIS), plus wages data from the census.
First, two Gini coefficients were calculated: one is the Gini coefficient of personal income and the other is the Gini coefficient of net earnings (GNE, income without dividends, interest and rent, and transfer payments). This was done in order to observe the income distribution at the county level in Appalachia. Both were on a downward slope in the 1970s and on an upward slope after the mid-1980s. The difference between them changed markedly after the mid-1980s due to the growth rate in net earnings per capita in nonmetropolitan areas (GRE), which is highly correlated with GNE.
Second, the years 1969-96 were divided into two periods, 1969-1985 and 1986-1996, because there was structural change between the Gini coefficients and GRE in 1985. Linear multiple regression models were employed, where the average annual growth rate of private earnings is a dependent variable and the average annual growth rates of industrial employments (AGRE) are independent variables in the subregions (Northern, Central and Southern Appalachia). This estimate showed (1) that AGRE in services, including finance, insurance, and real estate, is significant in all subregions except for Central Appalachia after 1986; (2) that AGRE in manufacturing in 1969-1985 is significant in all subregions, but insignificant for Central Appalachia and the Northern nonmetropolitan areas after 1986; (3) that AGRE in mining is still significant, but AGRE in services is most significant in Northern nonmetropolitan areas after 1986; (4) that AGRE in manufacturing and services is significant in the Southern nonmetropolitan areas after 1986; (5) and that AGRE in wholesale trades is significant in Central Appalachia after 1986.
Third, employment in manufacturing has increased in nonmetropolitan Appalachia though it has decreased in the United States overall during the periods 1969-1985 and 1986-1996. Added value per establishment in manufacturing in Appalachia is in excess of the national average because of the employment of many low-wage workers. Consequently, income disparities in Appalachia have increased.
Fourth, the only location factor that affects AGRE in manufacturing is the average hourly wage rate. Low wages mean a high growth rate in employment in 1969-1985. Northern Appalachia has lost jobs due to a high hourly wage. Conversely, Southern Appalachia has more jobs in 1969-1985. Though Southern Appalachia has experienced the fastest jobs and earnings growth, nonmetropolitan areas in the region still depend on low productivity manufacturing industries. Central nonmetropolitan areas, particularly Eastern Kentucky, have experienced more than a two percent annual growth in employment, but they have not increased earnings effectively. Using a regression model, the significance of the low wages was minimal after 1986.

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