The process of converting land or farms into small plots worked by tenant farmers called crofters, or the transformation of an area into crofting communities.
From crofter (a small-scale farmer) + -ization (a suffix meaning 'the process of becoming'). Crofter itself comes from croft, a small farm, which has Old Norse and Scottish Gaelic roots dating back to medieval times.
Crofterization was particularly important in Scottish Highlands history—landlords would break up large estates into tiny plots to maximize rent income, which ironically led to tighter communities and a distinctive crofting culture that still exists today.
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