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Official and Vernacular Identifications
in the Making of the Modern World:
Case study in Yunnan, S.W. China
Submitted by:
Xu Jianchu, Andy Wilkes and Janet Sturgeon
Center for Biodiversity and Indigenous Knowledge (CBIK)
1. Introduction................................................................................................................................... 2
1.1 What is CBIK’s interest ...................................................................................................... 2
1.2 Official and vernacular identifications ................................................................................ 2
1.3 The ‘Developmental State’: a historical review .................................................................. 3
2. Research Objectives ...................................................................................................................... 5
3. Research Topics ............................................................................................................................ 6
3.1 Cultural diversity................................................................................................................. 6
3.1.1 Cultural diversity in the Honghe valley ................................................................... 8
3.1.2 Cultural diversity in Tacheng ................................................................................... 8
3.1.3 Multi-ethnic family .................................................................................................. 9
3.1.4 Cultural Identity in Pu-er ......................................................................................... 9
3.2 Cultural assets ..................................................................................................................... 9
3.2.1 Research on Dongba cultural revival ..................................................................... 10
3.2.2 Research on Hand-made paper............................................................................... 11
3. 3 ‘Poverty’ and resettlement................................................................................................ 12
3.3.1 Being ‘poor’ in Nujiang ......................................................................................... 13
3.3.2 Resettlement from Nujiang .................................................................................... 14
3.3.3 Sedentarization of the Kuchong people ................................................................. 14
4. Methodological approach ............................................................................................................ 15
4.1 ‘Cultural mobilization’ ...................................................................................................... 16
4.2 Actor Network Theory ...................................................................................................... 18
5. Organizational issues .................................................................................................................. 20
5.1 Timetable........................................................................................................................... 20
5.2 Management ...................................................................................................................... 20
1
1. Introduction
1.1 What is CBIK’s interest
As part of a global collaborative research network, CBIK has chosen different
topics for research, and at least one case study within each topic. The topics chosen
for Yunnan are: cultural diversity, poverty and resettlement, and cultural assets and
tourism. These topics have been chosen (a) in consideration of the research theme
outlines and (b) in consideration of CBIK‟s role as a socially engaged NGO. We hope
through case studies, at the same time as contributing to the goals of the global
research project, to also gain new understandings of the position of CBIK as an actor
in relation to other actors within the fields researched.
CBIK‟s mission is as follows:
To enhance the ability of local groups to strengthen their evolving cultural
traditions while finding innovative solutions for improving their livelihoods
and enhancing biodiversity through interdisciplinary research, capacity
building, participatory approaches for intercultural dialogue and interactions
among local and scientific cultures, languages and knowledge systems in
Southwest China.
CBIK, as socially engaged learning organization, we have selected topics for
research that would make contributions to our own understanding of our own practice,
as well as the practices of partner organizations and individuals involved in both
research and practice in the fields of cultural resources, biodiversity conservation,
poverty alleviation and social development. The topics suggested below cover the
main program areas of CBIK as well as the main strategic policy areas of the
Provincial Government.
1.2 Official and vernacular identifications
The aim of the global research project is to “rethink the fundamental categories
of „identity studies‟” by introducing new methodologies and new empirical data. The
core concepts, deriving from recent work by Peter Sahlins and James Scott around
which the global research is based are concepts of „official identifications‟ and
„vernacular identifications‟. According to the project documents, these can be seen as
referring to the ways in which self-consciously „modern‟ states have sought to define
identities (e.g. ethnicity, modern-backwards, special groups, citizenship etc) and the
contrast with alternative identities arising from other sources and recognized or
championed by other groups within society. Thus, official identifications are
continually challenged and subverted by alternative identifications and by alternative
appropriations of state identifications for other purposes. This also implies that
identities are continuously in motion and often are situationally defined, although it
must be recognized that some identities „stick‟. This research then seeks to ask how
are official and vernacular identifications established, how they come to have force
and resonance in society, and how they interact and conflict with each other,
2
producing hybrid and unexpected forms of expressions of identity. The focus of the
research is therefore on „identities‟ as socially constructed artifacts.
This research is going on in France, Russia, Central Asia, Thailand and Yunnan.
In each region, research will focus on three main themes:
Membership (inclusion and exclusion within the state)
Geographies of identification (how spaces are defined and the impacts of this)
Placement and displacement (the state‟s project of fixing mobile and sedentary
populations within its borders).
The Yunnan (China) group felt that research on issues relating to ethnicity in
relation to national borders and sovereignty would be politically sensitive, and also
difficult for Chinese nationals to conduct cross-border research. Thus we selected a
set of topics that relate to the above themes based on two understandings: (1) the
main presence of the state in Yunnan is in the form of a „developmental state‟; (2)
CBIK and its partner institutions are socially engaged actors. It is on the basis of
these two premises that the research topics and case studies have been chosen.
1.3 The ‘Developmental State’: a historical review
The historical origins of „the Chinese nation‟ (zhonghua minzu) has been
extensively researched, though many divergent opinions exist. „Chinese-ness‟ has
also become the focus of much research in the context of historical emigration, and
the more recent growth of China‟s position in the global economy. Studies of
communities of Chinese origin in different parts of the world show many interesting
new configurations of ethnic and local identities in relation to nations, citizenship and
culture. Within China, there are also many different ethnic groups. Issues concerning
the identification of ethnic groups (“national minorities”) in China have been
previously researched by both Western and (more recently) Chinese scholars. It is
widely recognized among both Western and Chinese scholars that the state‟s
process of ethnic identification in the early 1950s was heavily influenced by the
needs of the newly forming state and its Stalinist conception of ethnicity (see e.g.
volumes by Steven Harrell). One interesting conclusion that might be drawn from this
literature is that the identities of different ethnic groups have been formed in close
relation to the formation and transformation of the nation state, and through the
process of the state extending its administrative control to remote areas.
While there is still much room for researching vernacular identifications and their
contrast with state identifications among many ethnic groups of Yunnan, CBIK feels
that this issue has already been highlighted sufficiently in the existing literature, and
further work that avoids political sensitivity would thus be of limited value to
scholarship at large and to CBIK and its counterparts. Thus, in considering potential
research topics, CBIK has sought to develop a perspective on „official‟ and
„vernacular‟ identifications that fits sufficiently well within official discourses, and yet
allows room for critical perspectives on issues of identity in Yunnan in ways that are
constructive. In seeking this perspective, the role and identity of the state as a
„developmental state‟ is seen as crucial.
3
Since the 1950s, the Chinese state has clearly identified itself as a
developmental state. In the 1950s, inequalities that were identified as systemic
blockages to socio-economic development were identified and eradicated.
Collectives and communes were formed with the specific goals of releasing
productive forces by bringing them into the public (as opposed to private) realm. In
the 1950s, a well-known slogan was that China should strive “to overtake Britain and
catch up with America”. Along with institutional reforms, ideological movements were
seen as playing a crucial part in molding the people in ways better suited to the great
tasks ahead. Following the ideological excesses and institutional collapse during the
Cultural Revolution, in 1978 the Central Government explicitly redirected the focus of
mobilization efforts towards „modernization‟. This new direction was accompanied by
an explicit focus on „getting rich‟, and with the exception of two political movements in
the early 1980s, ideological mobilization became closely related to this goal of wealth
generation. A clear example of this is the “Material and Spiritual Civilization
Construction‟ movement, which aims to create the ideological conditions for
improvements in material living conditions. The Chinese economic reform designer,
Mr. Deng Xiaoping said that “Development is a fundamental principle”. In the 1990s,
as Chinese society has become more complex, it has become increasingly clear that
state legitimacy is seen as resting on the ability of the Communist Party to deliver
improvements in living standards. In 1999, Chairman Jiang Zemin formulated this
into an explicit party-state strategy known as the „Three Representatives‟ which is
currently compulsory reading for all Party and government cadres. Given living
memories of the excesses of the Cultural Revolution and the striking change in living
standards that began in the early 1980s, the force of an ideology that focuses on
improvements in living standards as opposed to other communist ideals is felt by
almost all citizens.
In Yunnan, this focus on wealth generation has led to the creation of several
local policy strategies and specific practices on the part of the provincial government.
During the second half of the 1990s, the provincial government created nine poverty
alleviation programs covering the work of major departments, such as health,
agriculture, forestry, science and technology and so on. This brought the
achievement of „poverty alleviation‟ targets into the assessment of the performance of
many government departments at each level. Following the rapid development of
Yunnan‟s tourism industry in the 1980s and 1990s, a second strategy was to set the
goal of creating Yunnan into a “Great Cultural Province” in order to create a unique
market niche for Yunnan‟s tourism industry. In practice, this has focused on
identifying cultural assets, such as ethnic minority clothing, handicrafts, song and
dance etc, packaging them as commercializable products and supporting the
development of related enterprises. A third strategy has been to set the goal of
making Yunnan into a “Green Economy Province”, in order to take advantage of
Yunnan‟s potential comparative advantage in bio-resources. Again, this has involved
bio-prospecting and development of bio-resource processing enterprises. There is
policy support for identifying medicinal and other plants of Yunnan‟s ethnic minorities
in order to serve the economic goals of government and enterprises.
4
Thus, we see that the Party and state in Yunnan is increasingly presenting itself
as a „developmental state‟ or „development frontier‟ in the national strategy for
“Developing the West” recently. This „developmental state‟ differs from others in that
there is an explicit awareness that the legitimacy of the state depends on its ability to
deliver „poverty alleviation‟ and „wealth generation‟ to the people. In this context,
discourses of inclusion in the state focus less on issues of ethnic identity or
citizenship per se, and more on the participation of the people in socio-economic
development, and improvements in material living conditions in particular. With the
development of the recent strategies mentioned above, the inclusion of Yunnan‟s 25
ethnic minorities in the polity has been increasingly pursued through practices
associated with poverty alleviation, tourism development and bio-resource
exploitation.
Given this broad context, CBIK has chosen a set of topics that relate to the
overall themes for the CRN research on the understanding that the most influential
identification processes in Yunnan in recent years have been those associated with
the discourses of the „developmental state‟. CBIK too has been participating in
surveys, research and planning exercises on behalf of the provincial government,
and has thus been participating in, being shaped by and helping shape discourses in
these fields. Recent work of CBIK has included a set of case studies on “threats to
biodiversity” for the Provincial Planning Commission, a set of local planning exercises
aiming to enhance local livelihoods and biodiversity conservation for the Provincial
Planning Commission and the Asian Development Bank, policy review and
institutional capacity analysis for the Yunnan Environmental Development Program
funded by the Department for International Development (DFID) of the British
Government, and convening an international congress on the links between cultures
and biodiversity that led to the presentation of an advocacy document, „the Yunnan
Initiative‟. We see the CRN research project as an opportunity to examine the
processes of identification taking place in the fields in which CBIK is involved, as a
way to promote reflection within CBIK and among its counterparts on the roles that
scholars and social activists have been playing. Through basic research on these
issues, we hope to enhance CBIK‟s position as an actor that supports local
communities in appropriate ways.
2. Research Objectives
The objectives of this project are the following:
To gain a clear understanding of how state identify the “nationalities (or
minzu)” and its policies related to include into main stream through
“developmental state” discourse;
To assess vernacular identifications of different social groups in Yunnan and
the degree of flexibility;
To identify specific opportunities for policy dialogue and inter-cultural
communication;
To strengthen the CBIK‟s research capacity in indigenous culture and
inter-culture communication.
5
Research on the chosen topics collective contribute to an effort to answer the
following research questions:
Through what processes of identification have Yunnan‟s ethnic minorities
been included in the polity?
In what ways have official identifications been shaped by vernacular
identifications and non-state actors?
3. Research Topics
3.1 Cultural diversity
Issues concerning the identification of ethnic groups (“national minorities”) in
China have been previously researched by both Western and (more recently)
Chinese scholars. It is widely recognized among both Western and Chinese scholars
that the state‟s process of ethnic identification in the early 1950s was heavily
influenced by the needs of the newly forming state and its Stalinist conception of
ethnicity (see e.g. volumes by Steven Harrell). One interesting conclusion that might
be drawn from this literature is that the identities of different ethnic groups have been
formed in close relation to the formation and transformation of the nation state, and
through the process of the state extending its administrative control to remote areas.
While there is still much room for researching vernacular identifications and their
contrast with state identifications among many ethnic groups of Yunnan, CBIK feels
that this issue has already been highlighted sufficiently in the existing literature, and
further work that avoids political sensitivity would thus be of limited value to
scholarship at large and to CBIK and its counterparts.
However, a related issue of great significance for Yunnan that has been
under-researched is that of cultural diversity. This topic is significant for several
reasons. Firstly, Yunnan has 25 national minorities, 15 of which live only within
Yunnan in China. This diversity is a striking characteristic of the ecological and social
environment in Yunnan. Secondly, from the point of view of CBIK as an organization
committed to promoting the conservation of biodiversity, it is clear that the variety of
cultural ways (e.g. cosmologies, resource management institutions, resource use
practices etc.) through which different groups interact with biological resources is one
of the ways in which Yunnan‟s rich biodiversity is maintained. Synthesis of numerous
individual case studies can demonstrate this, but no systematic research has taken
place on a more macro-level on cultural diversity as a phenomenon in itself. Thirdly,
most previous research by both Western and Chinese researchers has either
focused on single ethnic groups or on the topic of “ethnic unity” (minzu tuanjie). This
latter type of research is framed mainly within the state discourses on inclusion of
culturally diverse groups within the state polity. Very little previous research is known
to exist on how “ethnic unity”, “cultural diversity”, “pluri-culturalism” and so on have
been practiced and experienced by local people in Yunnan.
Previous scholarship has focused on the implications of multi-ethnicity for social
stability in this border area of China. The main academic work on the subject is
6
entitled “Ethnic Unity and Stability of Border Areas in Yunnan” (Guo Jiaji (ed) 1998),
the research for which was funded by the National Social Science Research
Foundation. The basic argument of that work (in common with almost all government
documents on the topic) is that economic development in ethnic minority areas is an
imperative in order to maintain stable inter-ethnic relations (“ethnic unity”), which is in
the interest of the state and members of all ethnic groups. This work also contains
certain discourses on the origin and nature of Yunnan‟s multi-ethnic society and on
multi-ethnicity as a phenomenon itself. These discourses draw heavily on a range of
sources that are closely associated with the state: ancient Han Chinese texts, official
histories of ethnic group formation and migration, Marx and Engels, Lenin and Deng
Xiaoping. What is the relation of these discourses on „ethnic unity‟ to discourses and
practices of cultural integration, cultural assimilation or cultural autonomy?
Moreover, previous research has not been based on fieldwork that sought to
understand how members of ethnic groups themselves have experienced and
understand “ethnic unity” in their own lives. The current research aims to document
how members of ethnic groups themselves have experienced and understand the
multi-ethnic social and cultural environments in which they live. The concepts of state
identifications and vernacular identifications is felt to be analytically useful on three
levels. Firstly, there are explicit state discourses on how cultural diversity is to be
understood (e.g. “ethnic unity” as both a desirable state and a factual statement
about the current state of affairs). How have people living in ethnically diverse
contexts understood, reacted to and used the official discourses in their lives?
Secondly, what discourses on cultural diversity exist among the people? How have
people living in culturally diverse areas understood cultural diversity? Thirdly, how
have official and vernacular discourses interacted and shaped each other? The case
studies documented in this research will enable us to analyze the differences
between the official identifications of “ethnic unity” as a phenomenon and vernacular
identifications of what for now we are calling “cultural diversity”.
Research on ‘cultural diversity’ fits with the CRN theme of „membership‟. As
explained above, the state primarily presents itself as a „developmental state‟. Official
discourses on “ethnic unity” also relate closely to discourses on development. In the
official discourse, inclusion of culturally diverse groups in the polity in Yunnan is
predicated not only on the constitutional equality of nationalities (which is
institutionalized through provisions for national minorities‟ autonomous governance).
It is also dependant on the deliverance of economic growth by the state. Thus, we
see that „development‟ and “ethnic unity” are intertwined means through which
culturally diverse groups are included in the polity, and through which the stability of
the polity itself is seen to be maintained. However, no substantial research has
indicated how “ethnic unity” or „cultural diversity‟ has been experienced by members
of ethnic minorities living in culturally diverse settings, nor on how they construct
concepts of cultural diversity. For the people themselves, is ethnic unity seen as an
indication of or essential condition for their inclusion? What associated policy
practices have impacted on the lives of the people, and how have they been adopted,
reacted to or used by the people?
7
3.1.1 Cultural diversity in the Honghe valley
(Key researchers: Huang Guiquan and Fu Yongshou)
In the Honghe (Red River) valley different ethnic groups (Dai, Hani, Miao, Yi, Yao,
Zhuang etc) inhabit different environments and different elevations. It is typical for the
Miao and Hani to live at the highest elevations, the Yao and Yi to live in the middle
elevations and the Dai to live near the river. Each group thus has access to a
different set of natural resources, and finds itself in different relations to the state and
to state resource management and development policies. Yet, different groups are
also inter-dependant as their geographical distribution puts them in different relations
to ecological services and their maintenance. Also, it is clear, for example, on market
days that there are significant interactions between different ethnic groups. There has
been a large amount of anthropological as well as ethnobotanical research on single
ethnic groups within the area, but none on cultural diversity per se.
Based on previous work by Fu Yongshou, this research will select one area
representative of the typical distribution of ethnic groups in Honghe, and seek to
examine the following questions:
- How do ethnic groups in the area identify themselves in relation to other groups
and how do they identify the other groups in relation to themselves and each
other?
- In what aspects of their livelihoods do members of different ethnic groups
perceive cultural diversity to be manifested?
- What practices (e.g. marriage relations, marketing relations, resource flows and
exchange etc) do these aspects involve villagers in?
- How do members of different ethnic groups themselves understand the cultural
and ethnic diversity within their local area?
- How do their understandings relate to official discourses on “ethnic unity”?
3.1.2 Cultural diversity in Tacheng
(key researcher: He Jianhua)
Tacheng is a collection of villages in Weixi county inhabited by members of at
least 5 ethnic groups (Tibetan, Naxi (Mosuo), Lisu, Bai, and Han). Historically,
Tacheng was important as the seat of governance of the „exigent‟ Mosuo magistrate
(tusi), and as the location of one of the most southerly Tibetan Buddhist temples in
Yunnan. Historically, the temple and magistrate were closely associated in the
governance of a wide area of northwestern Yunnan. Unlike the Honghe case, in
Tacheng, different ethnic groups live at similar elevations and have access to a wide
range of resources at higher elevations. Of particular note is the alpine pasture
management system which involves inter-ethnic resource management.
- How do ethnic groups in the area identify themselves in relation to other groups
and how do they identify the other groups in relation to themselves and each
other?
- How do they identify themselves in relation to the history of the area?
- What linkages are there between different ethnic groups in terms of social
relations, resource flows and exchange and so on?
8
- What mechanisms for resource use conflict management exist and how are
different ethnic groups involved and represented?
- How do members of different ethnic groups themselves understand the cultural
and ethnic diversity within their local area, and how does this relate to official
discourses on „ethnic unity‟?
3.1.3 Multi-ethnic family
(Key researcher: Luo Rongfen)
Gongshan county is a Dulong and Nu Nationality Autonomous County, but has
actually been inhabited by more than 7 national minorities for at least 100 years. It is
common for different ethnic groups to live in adjacent villages, within the same village
(Yonglaga village has 9 ethnic groups) and even within the same family. Recently
begun research on one family history by a Dulong nationality researcher is focusing
on a multi-ethnic family. Initial findings suggest that some ethnic identification within
the family is based on ancestral origins, while others are strategic identifications in
the face of the state regulations on national minority autonomy that were introduced
in the 1950s.
The research will be expected to illuminate:
- What types of historical interactions and events have led to the current ethnic
diversity in the family?
- How has multi-ethnicity been experienced and dealt with within the family?
- How has „nationality‟ and ethnic identity been determined in the family?
- How have these experiences related to official discourses on “ethnic unity”?
3.1.4 Cultural Identity in Pu-er
(Key researcher: Qian Jie)
Pu-er county of Simao Prefecture is home of many sub-groups of Hani, who
inhabit different environments and different elevations. The most Hani particularly the
young generation do not speak Hani language any more. It is interesting to look at
their identity as Hani and historical social change in the region.
Qian Jie is studying on social development for M.S. degree at Antonio University
in Manila. She is now in the field for site selection and developing outline. She is in
the field after May 2002 for much longer time.
3.2 Cultural assets
CBIK is an organization devoted to the furtherance of indigenous or traditional
technical knowledge. Much of its own research has involved surveys of
ethno-botanical knowledge and resource utilization. More recently it has
acknowledged that the cosmovisions of ethnic minority peoples are an important
cultural resource with important implications for resource use and livelihoods. At the
same time, in recent years, the Provincial Government has launched strategies
aiming to turn Yunnan into a „Great Cultural Province‟ and a „Green Economy
Province‟. The former strategy has given great support to the development of tourism
in ethnic minority areas, while the latter promotes bio-prospecting, among other
things. In some cases, where traditional knowledge of resource use links with craft
9
production, bio-prospecting and the development of tourism products are linked.
CBIK has been involved in various ways in the identification of „indigenous
knowledge‟, and more recently in some interventions aiming to transmit, and protect
„indigenous knowledge‟ and related practices.
Given the grounding of these policy strategies in discourses on the
„developmental state‟, research on cultural assets also fits with the overall theme of
membership. Participation in „development‟ has become one way in which members
of ethnic minorities are being included in the polity. The appropriation of the cultural
resources of ethnic groups has become a new way in which they and their cultures
are being included in the state and state-promoted processes of development. In this
context, the preservation, adaptation, packaging and marketing of cultural assets is
being presented as an imperative for local people who are being required to mobilize
a new set of resources as they participate in socio-economic development in new
ways.
These processes involve processes of identification in several ways. Potentially
marketable products are being identified from among indigenous knowledge and
practices. How are these knowledges and practices identified by different actors? Are
they seen as „cultural resources‟ of a particular group? Are they seen as common
property of the developing polity? Are they seen as private commodities ready for
marketization? In this identification process, how is ethnic culture understood by the
different actors and how does this relate to self-identity of the ethnic minority actors
involved? How have government policies identified, valued and ascribed roles to
cultural resources? How have different actors interpreted, utilized and contested
recent policy support for cultural resource development? These processes of
identification not only involve recognition and valuation, but are also closely entwined
with socio-economic processes of market development.
Research on the on-going interventions of CBIK and its partners would be used
to elucidate the ways in which different actors perceive and understand the cultural
resources involved, and the links between these identifications and the appropriation
of cultural, social and economic resources in processes of product development and
the other processes which different actors pursue. By providing a detailed
understanding of how a range of actors perceive cultural resources, and how this
relates to the different projects that each actor is pursuing, this research would better
position CBIK to support the development of cultural resources for the benefit of the
livelihoods of ethnic minority peoples.
3.2.1 Research on Dongba cultural revival
(Key researcher: Yang Fuquan)
Dongba are a type of „shaman‟ of the Naxi minority. Dongba practices include
song, dance, incantation, and reading of a pictographic script, and the maintenance
of their cultural practices has been seen as the key to maintaining Naxi culture.
Dongba performances are now a tourism product in the area. CBIK has an on-going
project to support the revival and transmission of Dongba culture in several villages.
These interventions bear differing degrees of relationship to the developing tourism
10
industry, such that some villagers are interested in this revival for potential tourism
revenues, while others are more interested in transmission of cosmological beliefs to
the younger generation.
The research is expected to examine the following types of issues.
- Who are the different (local and non-local) actors involved in revival of Dongba
culture in the case study villages?
- How do the different actors perceive, understand and value Dongba culture?
- What is the motivation of those involved (and not involved) in the revival efforts?
- How are these motivations linked to perceptions of the characteristics/functions of
Dongba culture?
- Given various local actors, each with their own perceptions and motivations, what
has been the function of external catalysts in such revivals, and what roles could
external catalysts play?
Local officials Researchers
Transmission to
non-relatives
Dongba culture
being transmitted
Non-rela
tives
Field of
practice
Dongba
Partilineal
transmission
grandsons
Field of
transmission Community
members
Ritual
Nature
3.2.2 Research on Hand-made paper
(Key researcher: Maruja Salas)
Hand-made paper is used for the production of sacred Dongba scripts.
Hand-made paper products have also become tourism products. There are several
11
paper makers in Lijiang, each of whom has their own secret knowledge about paper
making. In recent years, companies wishing to develop hand made paper products
have approached these paper makers, offering sums of money for them to impart
their techniques. But one paper maker has refused to cooperate with the demands of
the company and the local government to provide his services to the company in the
production of tourism products. This has raised a set of issues concerning intellectual
property rights: can „traditional knowledge‟ be patented or protected? Would secret
knowledge have to be divulged in order to obtain a patent for the paper maker? CBIK
has become involved in seeking a resolution to these issues, and is also interested in
issues of the sustainability of the plant resources involved in paper making. This
research is also expected to be self-reflexive in that CBIK is also an actor in the field.
In this context, this research would be expected to examine the following issues:
- Who are the actors involved in the hand-made paper field in Lijiang?
- In what different ways have different actors identified „paper making knowledge‟?
What characteristics or essence has been attributed to the knowledge and
techniques? (e.g. as a „cultural resource‟, as a commercializable product, as
common property, as secret knowledge etc etc...)
- How have different actors presented their own positions to each other, and how
have they tried to enroll each other in their projects with regard to the use of
hand-made paper? How have some tried to resist or collaborate with others?
- How have different actors tried to relate their positions to official discourses on
cultural resources, „Great Ethnic Culture Province‟ and other externally-derived
discourses?
- What implications have the above had for the actions they have taken?
- In what ways might CBIK engage with these positions in seeking a resolution?
3. 3 ‘Poverty’ and resettlement
As measured by official poverty criteria, Yunnan is one of China‟s poorest
provinces. The government has made great efforts to alleviate poverty over the last
50 years. Yet poverty remains in many areas. Over the last 50 years, there have
been many different discourses about poverty and „who are the poor‟, mainly
originating from the state. Some previous research (Wang 2000) has shown that
earlier state development interventions of poverty were based on erroneous
understandings of local ecology, leading to severe ecological destruction. In more
recent years, poverty alleviation programs have identified the poor in other ways (e.g.
lacking in knowledge of modern technologies, lacking in knowledge of Han language
etc). Again, these identifications have direct implications for the types of actions into
which state agencies try to enroll villagers who are identified as „poor‟. CBIK has also
been involved in surveys and planning activities that have strong interactions with
discourses on „poverty‟.
One specific type of poverty alleviation intervention is resettlement of villagers
from what are considered by the state to be uninhabitable or unserviceable
environments. In many cases, villagers are removed to utterly different environments
12
in terms of climate, ecology, production systems, and cultural and social factors.
Many such resettlement schemes result in increased poverty (as measured by either
official or unofficial criteria) and in the return of the resettled population.
The topic of ‘poverty’ fits in the theme of membership. Given the self-positioning
of the state as a „developmental state‟, poverty alleviation efforts are the main way in
which the state in these areas seeks to achieve legitimacy, and through these efforts
to include „poor‟ peoples in the polity. Many areas of Yunnan have been identified as
„poor areas‟, and are the targets of poverty alleviation activities by the state. Being
„poor‟ is one legitimate way of being included in the contemporary developmental
state. Rejecting identification of one as „poor‟ is not acceptable within the dominant
discourse. This topic also relates to the theme of geographies of identification, in that
in official discourses, adverse environmental conditions are almost always associated
with poverty. How have official discourses „read‟ and identified the ecological
conditions of „poor‟ areas?
The topic of resettlement fits with the theme of placement and displacement.
Resettlement of the „poor‟ has most commonly been justified on the basis that the
localities inhabited by the „poor‟ are „uninhabitable‟. This often assumes certain
identifications of environmental features, resource use patterns and also levels of
„civilization‟ of livelihood patterns.
Through a case study of one area, we will seek to „unpack‟ the widely accepted
category of „poor‟, and identify the characteristics through which „poor‟ has been
identified by the state and by the „poor‟ themselves, and trace the impacts of these
official and vernacular identifications on these people themselves and on the
environment. This theme and topic will examine how state identifications of
environmental and socio-cultural features has been related to specific actions to
locate „poor‟ people in space, and the impacts of these efforts on the environment. It
will also aim to elicit vernacular identifications of „place‟ in these cases and contrast
these with the state identifications.
This research will examine:
- How do „poor‟ villagers identify themselves and how do they understand poverty?
- How does being identified as „poor‟ interact with their other self-identifications?
- How has the state identified ecological and cultural characteristics in the process
of „poverty alleviation‟?
- What are the implications of these identifications for the livelihoods of villagers
affected?
- How do the „poor‟ experience their own change in circumstances?
3.3.1 Being ‘poor’ in Nujiang
(Key researcher: Wang Dongxin)
Previous research by Wang Dongxin has shown how the understanding by
(mostly Han) officials of swidden agriculture and the steeply sloped gorge
environment in the Salween River valley led to a series of practices aimed at
sedentarization of agriculture that destroyed the fertility of sloped fields. These
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interventions were bound up with discourses on „poverty‟ as the state identified the
need for and targets of these interventions.
This research will be based on reviews of relevant official literature and on
interviews with villagers. The main questions expected to be answered are:
- What have been the characteristics attributed to „poor‟ in different periods by
different actors?
- How have official identifications of „poor‟ been communicated to villagers?
- What state actions have been associated with what identifications?
- What role have official identifications given to environmental characteristics?
- How has the state sought to enroll the „poor‟ in its projects?
- How have villagers understood „poverty‟ in different periods?
- How have villagers reacted to and used their identification as „poor‟?
- Where official identifications are not accepted by villagers, what are the
identifications that they accept? How has the identity „poor‟ interacted with other
self-identifications?
- What have been the outcome of the above for people‟s lives and for the
environment?
3.3.2 Resettlement from Nujiang
(Key researcher: Wang Dongxin)
In areas of Nujiang where villagers are identified as „extremely poor‟, villages as
„remote and dispersed‟ or „unserviceable‟, and the environment as „inhospitable‟ or
„uninhabitable‟, villagers have been resettled to other areas. Thus, in recent years,
many Lisu and Lemo people have been resettled from the Gorge to temperate areas
in Malishan (Baoshan) and to the sub-tropical climates of Simao. Some reports
suggest that relocation to Simao in particular has had disastrous consequences for
their standard of living and integration into communities and society at large, as well
as for the local environments in Simao, as new arable land has been cleared. In
Baoshan, the local government has recently expressed its desire to return the
settlers to the Nujiang.
This research will examine the following issues:
- How has the state identified the people and environmental features in
communities that have been targets of resettlement projects and in the areas to
where they have been resettled?
- How have the community members reacted to these identifications?
- What have been the implications of resettlement for the living standards of those
resettled and for environments in areas where they have been resettled?
- What are the identifications that are significant for those who have returned?
3.3.3 Sedentarization of the Kuchong people
(key researchers: Mao Ronghua and Xu Jianchu)
The Kuchong people were previously a group of shifting hunter and gatherers in
the tropical forests of the Yunnan-Vietnam border. The state identified their way of life
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with the „primitive communism‟ of the Engels-Marx stage of social evolution, and has
since undertaken many actions to „civilize‟ the Kuchong people, including
interventions such as identifying the Kuchong as a branch of the sedentary Lahu
people, training in using chopsticks and frying foods, and sedentarization programs.
Sedentarization has had strong impacts on Kuchong resource use and their attitude
towards previously sacred mountains. Previous research has indicated that the
Kuchong have transferred their sacred mountains to new sites in the areas of
resettlement, but other aspects of their livelihoods have changed, such that their
relation to these sacred mountains has also changed.
The research will examine:
- What characteristics of the Kuchong people were significant attributes in the state
identification of their previous way of life?
- What characteristics of the Kuchong people were significant attributes in the
Kuchong people‟s self-identification of their previous way of life?
- How have these identifications been linked to state actions to sedentarize and
civilise the Kuchong?
- In what ways have perceptions of the sacred environment changed?
- What have been the impacts of these changes on natural resources and on
Kuchong understandings of natural resources?
4. Methodological approach
From these brief descriptions of each research topic, one can see that in each
situation we are concerned with what characteristics different actors identify as
significant, the significance they give to these characteristics and the socio-economic
processes that these actors are then brought into. In terms of approach, I suggest we
begin by drawing on three different strands of theory: work on „cultural mobilization‟,
actor-network theory and discourse theory. Drawing on these theories means we
shall also be introducing some new concepts and vocabularies with which to look at
these issues.
Sociologists have for many years been interested in ideology. One definition of
an ideology is:
“A system of beliefs held in common by members of a collectivity…which is
oriented to the evaluative integration of the collectivity, by interpretation of the
empirical nature of the collectivity and of the situation in which it is placed, the
processes by which it developed to its given state, the goals to which its members
are collectively oriented, and their relation to the future course of events.” (Talcott
Parsons quoted in Geertz 1973: 251, my italics)
The phrases in italics indicate that ideologies not only present a picture of the
current reality, but also seek to provide a model of how things should be. In Geertz‟s
terms, ideologies provide “authoritative concepts” (ibid.: 218) that attempt to make
complex social situations meaningful, in order “to make it possible to act purposefully
within them” (ibid.: 220).
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If we accept that ideologies relate to how people behave (or are expected to
behave), then an important question is how they achieve this? We have to look at
ideas (ideologies) in relation to practices, objects, social and economic processes
and cultural perceptions...
4.1 ‘Cultural mobilization’
Some recent work on the political and cultural aspects of resource management
in southeast Asia (Berkeley Working Papers by Anna Tsing and Tania Li Murray) have
looked at how, during conflicts over resources, different groups (actors) seek to use
cultural and political expressions to convince others to support their cause. Such
processes are termed examples of „cultural mobilization‟. Any conflict is cultural
because it pits opposing perspectives, values and ways of life against each other. In
such processes, one can identify several key „movements‟: An actor must:
(1) „create‟ their own position,
(2) formulate and reformulate problems
(3) formulate and reformulate other groups or actors, and through this,
(4) find appropriate ways of representing one‟s arguments expressed.
For example, in Tania Li Murray‟s work, Christian exogenes in Indonesia
collaborated with foreign environmentalists and members of the educated class to
reinvent themselves as „indigenous‟. In this case a linkage (between peasants and
the educated class) enabled them to speak a new identity through which they could
argue for „tribal rights‟ over land. In another case, an indigenous group imagined
themselves as „ordinary people‟, linked up with local officials and used this to claim
rights to poverty alleviation projects from the government (ie. they imagined
themselves in terms of conventional development discourse and the rights of citizens
and states).
From these examples, we can see that any positioning of a subject
(a) draws on historical practices and repertoires of meaning but
(b) emerges through particular engagements with other subjects, and
(c) is an expression in economic, political and cultural realms.
If each actor in the same situation is doing these things, then new links between
groups are created in the process of finding new ways to speak about things.
Examples of these links include alliances, oppositions, similarities, differences...
The key concepts to understand such phenomena are articulation and
collaboration. According to Stuart Hall:
“An articulation is the way in which two things are linked together...”. Often, an
ideology or discourse will represent different things as though they were all part of
the same unity (e.g. tribal rights and land). But from the point of view of research,
“the linkage is not necessary or absolute: you have to ask under what circumstances
can a connection be forged or made?” How do discourses link with other social
forces? How do different elements come to be fixed together to form a discourse?
How did these ideas come to be articulated at specific times to certain political
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subjects?
Therefore study of articulation means to analyze how some person or group that
has specific interests tries to connect other people, groups, economic arrangements,
ideas, and property to carry out their interests. Even more specifically it is an analysis
of how such a person or group tries to force different sorts of objects to act or
envision themselves as a group (a „unity‟) even though that „unity‟ is in fact made up
of many different elements. In this process they will need to try to collaborate with
other groups or objects or discourses.
One other important aspect of articulation is that it is a focus on practice rather
than just ideas or economics. There is always someone who is doing the articulation
(speaking, organizing, advertising, etc.). It is not an abstract analysis in the same
way that studies of ideology, or cultural or economic „systems‟ can seem to involve no
real, live, interested human beings. The importance of this is that it makes it much
more usable for anthropological understandings of culture, in as much as it views
culture as the acts of human beings (articulations) rather than as an abstract set of
ideas.
How do you analyze articulations? In brief, one must examine someone‟s
action and language (discourse) and ask for and with whom they are trying to forge
into an alliance. Examine the strength of the ties, and the differences that articulation
always tries to ignore or cover-up as it suggests that disparate elements share
particular interests, or are „unities‟.
More specifically we can consider the following steps:
a. Start by looking at who is doing the speaking? What are their interests?
Hall says that there are always leaders doing the speaking, trying to convince
others. But we can also find that often many different people are all trying to
convince and make links with others.
b. List all of the actors that the speaker is trying to bring together. This will
include people (which people? What characteristics do they give to those
people?), objects (what objects? What characteristics do they give to those
objects?), discourses or styles and subsets of speech (which discourses?),
and practices (what acts, rituals, performances?)
c. Then analyze what the overall effect is. What is the speaker suggesting
these elements have in common? How is he trying to link them together into
one „unity‟?
d. Then ask what differences are being erased or ignored by stressing or
inventing this „unity‟? How are other actors seeking to resist the articulations
of the main actors?
e. Finally, what alternative articulations are possible? E.g. historically, how have
these people‟s interests been tied together differently at other times? In
different places, how have people in different places tied together similar
actants with different interests? How do different actors imagine different
arrangements?
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4.2 Actor Network Theory
Actor Network Theory (ANT) tries to do a similar thing to the analysis of
Articulations. It also recognizes that in culture, society and politics, some things are
deliberately presented as „natural‟ or as a „unity‟ (e.g. “government”, “development”,
“indigenous people”...). This makes us blind to what actually lies inside of these big
blocks. ANT tries to unpack these big blocks and look at who the actors are, how
they are linked to each other and the processes they are involved in. In particular, it
tries to look at the network of relations from the points of view of the different actors
involved, instead of just from the point of view of the dominant. It does not ask what
„order‟ exists, but how different actors try to create order, and how others resist or try
to create different orders.
What is an ‘actor network’?
Imagine a computer. A person is using the computer. The person has past
experience of using the computer. The computer has capabilities to do certain things
but not others. The person is writing an essay for his teacher. The teacher has made
requirements about margin spacing...All these factors are related and connected to
the behaviour of the person who is using the computer. Thus, to understand what is
happening we need to consider all of the influencing factors together. These factors
include human factors and social relations, but also non-human factors such as the
technical features of the computer.
An actor network, then, is the act linked together with all of its influencing factors
– including human and non-human factors - which are also linked to each other.
How are actor networks made?
One key element is how different actors define the situation and how (in this situation)
they attribute characteristics to other actors. In order to collaborate, the actors must
mutually define each other. It is through these definitions that they become linked
together. One actor assigns another actor a new identity, a new role to play or new
projects to carry out in order to reach its own goal. Through this, the enroller identifies
key actors who are then persuaded that the solution to their own problems lies with
the enrollers.
Making stable links: When a person tries to do something, they have to draw
together (“collaborate with” or “enroll”) both human and non-human actors. We can
see this in the example if the computer stops working – the student cannot „enroll‟ the
computer into his task of finishing the essay. Both human and non-human actors are
essential to the success of maintaining a stable network. If the other actors accept
the characteristics attributed to them in the network, then the relationship between
actors may be more or less stable. But often actors can resist co-optation by other
actors. Then, the actor-network is a shifting system of alliances and exchanges
among the actors, as actors try to co-opt each other in the pursuit of individual and
collective objectives..
ANT identifies 4 stages in the creation of actor networks:
a. Defining the situation („problematization‟): The enroller identifies key actors
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who are then persuaded that the solution to their own problems lies with the
enrollers
b. Creating new networks: gradual dissolution of existing networks and their
replacement by a new network created by the enrollers
c. Enrollment: through coercion, seduction, or consent, the new network
achieves a solid identity.
d. „Mobilization‟: The actor network starts to represent other actors...
Stage What happens Imaginary example Imaginary example
of „development‟ of paper-making
'problematization' The enroller The state The business man
stage identifies key persuades cadres finds the paper
actors who are and villagers that maker and
then persuaded they are poor and convinces him that
that the solution to to end poverty they he is poor but
their own problems need help from the together they could
lies with the state earn money.
enrollers
Creating new gradual dissolution State removes old The business man
networks of existing and lazy cadres brings the paper
networks and their and replaces them maker to a factory
replacement by a with Party and tells him to
new network members and train young staff.
created by the educated youths, He also provides
enrollers bans slash and raw material for the
burn and trains paper and tells the
villagers to use paper maker that
HYVs and he does not need
chemical fertilizer... to grow the plant
anymore
'enrolment' through coercion, The state gives The paper maker
seduction, or annual targets for earns money from
consent, the new HYV area and the business man,
network achieves a output, and fines the other villagers
solid identity. and punishments if think he is
they are not met, successful, and the
the TV shows TV company
praise for yield makes a
gains even though documentary
it tastes bad and praising him
the villagers are
happy about the
high yield...
Mobilization of The actor network This village is The businessman
wider networks starts to represent made a model hears about
other actors village and traditional leather
published on TV shoes, and
and other areas convinces local
are told to grow government and
HYVs the leather maker
to come to the
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factory to work
Actor-network theory can help us to understand the course of a project or
enterprise. We can ask questions such as "How did it come to turn out this way?"
(through the changing alliances of actors), "Who is influencing it?" (who has been
doing what scripting?) or "Why are some actors acting this way? " (what scripts are
they carrying?). Through these types of questions we can get a rich understanding of
the situation.
Some people criticize that ANT focuses too much on the small parts of local
networks but ignores the wider social environment. But there is no reason why one
cannot look at wider networks, or links to “external” networks. Some also say that
ANT ignores how actors understand meaning. But again, there is no reason why
ideas or discourses cannot be seen as „actors‟. Therefore, we can also look at the
links between what is happening in local networks and in wider social discourses.
One can say that discourse theory allows us to see where the scripts are "coming
from"; and ANT allows us to see how local actors use these discourses in their own
local networks. Thus, ANT links well with ideas about „articulation‟.
5. Organizational issues
5.1 Timetable
October 24th, 2001 Inception workshop: all team members gathered at CBIK. The
research topics and concepts had been introduced to all participants, reached
agreement.
Oct. 2001- November 30th, 2001, individual planning and write-up outline for own
case studies by different key researchers.
December 1st: Team discussion about each case studies based on outlines.
December 2001- March 2002: Literature reviews and fieldwork planning
March 2002 Team analysis workshop
March – June 2002 First fieldwork and preparation of initial findings
June 2002 Team analysis workshop and planning of follow-up fieldwork
July – September 2002 Second fieldwork and preparation of findings
September 2002: SEA-CRN regional progress workshop
October 2002 Team writing up workshop
November 2002 Workshop to present and discuss findings
5.2 Management
This project falls under the Indigenous Knowledge and Culture program of CBIK.
Overall management should be the responsibility of the Program Head, Yang Fuquan,
in collaboration with Xu Jianchu, and Andy Wilkes.
Support on methodology can be given by Maruja Salas. Ralph Litzinger (Duke
University on sabbatical until October 2002 in Yunnan) has agreed to provide
methodological support and also speaks fluent Chinese.
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