Humans are Made of Mud: The Genealogy of Farmland Legal Protection in Religious Traditions

Abstract

Abstract: This article delves into the sacred origins of farmland legal protection, aiming to illuminate the profound rituals and beliefs that historically shaped human relationships with land and, more specifically, farmland. This analysis requires a deeper reflection on the interplay between land, religion, agriculture, and societal structures, ultimately contributing to the intricate process through which communities imbue land with meaning and, in so doing, give a value to it. To achieve its aims, the paper’s methodology combines legal research with historical and religious-cognitive approaches. This combination produces a new interpretation of land-based conflicts and claims. It shows how rules governing the protection of farmland generate durable ways of thinking about land, cultivation, community, and law: an investigation into “land and the sacred” is crucial for re-evaluating the contemporary interpretation of farmlands, tracing their evolution from communal to corporate/private entities, and from an intrinsic good to a utilitarian resource. Moreover, by pegging land to its connection to deep ontology and religion it is to explain the intensity of land-based conflicts that often defy rational explanations. Finally, this research aims to support an interinstitutional dialogue capable of considering agricultural lands not only from the modern liberal perspective of “legal goods,” but also as genuine “social resources” deeply connected to the communities that cultivate them.