Creating private property rights and establishing land markets were fundamental to the historical development of capitalism in the Global North and remain at the centre of capitalist development in the Global South. This article contributes to debates about these processes by analysing the relationship between land markets and indigenous peoples in Highland Ecuador. Building on Karl Polanyi's concept of fictitious commodities, it elaborates a new concept that makes an analytical distinction between the activation and development of land markets. The former refers to the occasional participation of actors in markets to secure land, whereas the latter relates to the establishment and expansion of markets that regulate the distribution and value of land through market prices. Focusing on indigenous land struggles in the late 20th century, this article shows that the activation of land markets created opportunities for indigenous peasants to secure land, whereas the development of land markets closed them down. Social and class differentiation among the highland indigenous population increased through this contradictory process. The article connects this historical analysis to recent developments in Ecuador to contribute to empirical and theoretical debates about contemporary land struggles and agrarian change elsewhere in the Global South.

中文翻译：

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虚拟商品化和土地变化：厄瓜多尔高地的土著人民和土地市场

建立私有财产权和建立土地市场是全球北方资本主义历史发展的基础，并且仍然是全球南方资本主义发展的中心。本文通过分析厄瓜多尔高地的土地市场与土著人民之间的关系，为有关这些过程的辩论做出了贡献。它以卡尔·波拉尼（Karl Polanyi）的虚拟商品概念为基础，阐述了一个新概念，该新概念在激活与发展之间进行了分析性区分土地市场。前者是指参与者偶尔参与市场以获取土地，而后者则涉及建立和扩展市场，这些市场通过市场价格来调节土地的分配和价值。本文着眼于20世纪后期的土著土地斗争，表明土地市场的激活为土著农民获得土地的机会创造了机会，而土地市场的发展却使他们陷入困境。通过这一矛盾过程，高地土著居民之间的社会和阶级分化有所增加。本文将这种历史分析与厄瓜多尔的最新发展联系起来，从而为有关全球南方其他地区当代土地斗争和农业变化的经验和理论辩论做出贡献。