An economic system under which a few private individuals (landlords) own property, and rent it to tenants.
1907, Jack London, The Iron Heel:What if all the poor people should refuse to pay rent and shelter themselves under the American flag? Landlordism would go crumbling.
A specific variation or implementation of such a system.
Reclaiming the land: the resurgence of rural movements in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, edited by Sam Moyo and Paris Yeros, page 33:... including the racialized landlordisms to which it gives rise.
