ACritical Analysis of China’s Sedentarisation Policies and Programmes and the Socio- Economic Implications for Tibetan Pastoral Nomads: University of East London Journal (Peer Reviewed) (original) (raw)
Related papers
CounterPunch , 2014
The Israeli government recently dropped its policy of seeking to evict at least 40,000 Bedouin nomads, although the true figure may well be double that estimate, from their ancestral lands in the Negev desert. The Prawer plan's key objective is to forcibly dispossess the nomads off their homesteads, demolish their makeshift settlements with military bulldozers, and then relocate them into government approved concrete villages. The plan has been dropped, at least for now. But when the world's attention looks elsewhere the evictions program will almost certainly be reconvened. The 'backward' Bedouins are, after all, according to the logic of state induced development, manifestly in the way of social and economic progress. The Bedouin nomads, long characterised as 'unproductive wanderers in the wilderness', as indeed most travelling peoples have historically been perceived, have, at least for now, been temporarily saved. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for other nomadic societies.
Many traditional societies in the Tibetan Plateau region struggle to sustain their livelihoods, cultural meanings, identity, and autonomy. Beijing's removal and resettlement policies for the Tibetan grasslands cost both Tibetan nomads and their livestock a heavy price. Tibetan nomads in resettled villages and towns are facing hardships adapting to changing ecological and social environments. They have been struggling to find a way out of poverty but they know no other skills than herding. The concerns with this mandatory removal are many: What livelihood options are available to these resettled nomads, what vocational skills do they need, what economic opportunities might be open to them, will they have to migrate even further from their new homes to find incomes? Will these Chinese resettlement policies that have so high social, economic and cultural lost for nomadic pastoralists really protect the environment? Are the Tibetan nomadic pastoralists indeed part of the problem or are they part of the solution to conserve these grasslands?
Resettlement Among Tibetan Nomads in China, 2015
This paper observes the effects state-sponsored resettlement in two Tibetan nomad counties of Yushu Prefecture, Qinghai Province (PRC). As nomads increasingly move to urban areas, regional and local economies are shifting, as are social relations and the traditional systems that have managed rangeland resources for millennia. Yet few studies have investigated the empirics of life within these resettled communities. This research takes a snapshot of key socio-economic indicators for resettled Tibetans as they transition to urban life and evaluates if and how nomads are benefiting, and what new challenges have arisen as a result of these processes. Drawing from survey and interview data, I suggest that while resettlement offers nomad families opportunities in terms of access to public services such as education and health care, it also entails significant new expenses for households even as their earnings potential contracts; these trends are exacerbated in the case of poorer households and income inequalities are likely to worsen when families move to urban areas. Likewise, while resettlement has resulted in increased purchase of consumption goods, household investment in productive assets has seen a corresponding decline. Even though access to some public services may increase with resettlement quality of life in urban areas may suffer with respect to pollution exposure, lack of water and sanitation infrastructure, and increasing prices for basic commodities. With higher rates of school enrollment and the deskilling of the rural labour force, resettlement to urban areas is likely to undermine the long-term economic viability of pastoral production in Tibetan areas of China. Resettlement is also affecting the continuity of social institutions and modes of knowledge transmission, encouraging certain opportunities and closing off other potentialities for nomadic culture. This paper contributes to the literature on development-induced displacement, governance at China’s margins, and the adaptability of pastoral production systems amidst state efforts to modernize and assimilate nomads. Leveraging this case study, we can theorise more broadly about the social, ecological, and economic repercussions of resettlement.
Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice, 2011
Sedentarisation efforts have been part of the Chinese policy on the Tibetan grassland since the 1960s. These efforts increased significantly after the introduction of the Opening of the west (Chin: 西部大开发 xibu da kaifa) development strategy. The aim of the sedentarisation programs is mainly to improve the grassland ecosystem and also the socioeconomic situation of nomadic households. Nevertheless the program aims do not concentrate primarily on the nomads and how they cope with the situation and new lifestyle in the urban settlements. Are the settlement measures going to solve the situation on the grassland in the west of China, or is the hasty implementation going to bring further social problems for Tibetan nomads, that the Central Government will have to solve? This article will not be able to answer all these important questions as the resettlement process has not been completely accomplished yet. The article focuses on recently implemented projects in the sequence of sedentarisation programs, the so-called Nomadic settlement (Chin: 游牧 民定居 you mumin dingju) and describes the main elements of this project according to governmental documents, interviews with responsible persons and its implementation in areas of Maqin and Zeku Counties in Qinghai Province and Hongyuan County in Sichuan Province. The article provides information on the outcome of the project, the recent situation and offers a basis for further research.
Mobility, Assimilation & Identity: Marginalisation of Tibetan Nomads under PRC
Institute of Chinese Studies, 2023
The perceived nomadic challenge to the state seldom results in amicable resolution, under an authoritarian regime like China the results are however not in favour of nomads. China is been cracking down hard on the nomadic Tibetans who are inhabitants of the vast stretches of land in the Tibetan plateau. The nomads have been forcibly relocated to state-constructed settlements which has repercussions. The entire developmental discourse around nomads is based on the state’s predispositions, which have been passed on through different regimes in China. However, the state’s claimed objectives have not fully materialised on ground and imply ulterior motives behind such policies. The following article aims at identifying patterns in Chinese policies to establish the state’s objectives for restricting nomadic mobility. Simultaneously, the policies are inextricably linked with the state’s effort to assimilate Tibetans within a national identity narrative using education policies and (re)presentation in museums. As a result, the nomads who are forcibly relocated face intersectional issues in the semi-urban spaces where they get socio-economically marginalised.
The End of Nomadism?: Society, State and the Environment in Inner Asia (review)
Anthropological Quarterly, 2002
T his volume is a bold synthesis of original field material and theoretical reflections as applied to six political districts in a region known as Inner Asia. The central argument of the book is that the mobile use of pastoral resources should not be considered an outdated or threatened economic form. Instead the authors demonstrate the robustness of "mobile pastoralism" historically and in specific state socialist jurisdictions within Russia, China, and Mongolia. The authors use their data on the sustainable nature of mobile pastoralism to critique of a wide variety of anthropological and government literature that, they contend, affirms stereotypes of nomadic production as an unfocussed or undisciplined form of existence. Instead, they argue that if there is an "end to nomadism" in the region it will come from the irrational pressure of privatisation which forces rural producers to migrate to cities in search of other forms of work. The material for this volume was generated by an ambitious five year project, funded by the MacArthur Foundation, which was based at the University of Cambridge from 1991 to 1995. The Project on Environmental and Cultural Conservation in Inner Asia recruited a team of local researchers from Siberian Russia, Northern China, and Mongolia, trained them in participatory research techniques, and then had them conduct extensive survey work in ten case
Hor – A Sedentarisation Success for Tibetan Pastoralists in Qinghai?
Most outside observers of current development in grassland areas of China see sedentarisation policies rather sceptically. Among other issues, the accelerated planning and implementation period, the poor quality of housing and facilities at the settlement sites, the lack of alternative livelihood opportunities and the loss of nomad culture are commonly mentioned in critiques of the rapid sedentarisation that has taken place in China in the past decade. Reports in the Chinese media tend to tell a different story, celebrating sedentarisation as a welcome step towards modernity among the grassland population. This paper examines one new settlement, Hor, where in 2009 locals confirmed the positive rhetoric of the government and averred that the advantages brought by sedentarisation outweighed its negatives. More recent research shows that the situation in Hor is, in fact, more complex and the touted successes of the sedentarisation policy may not be long-lasting.
This paper seeks to highlight the historical and existing problems associated with the protection of indigenous people’s culture within the parameters of international law. Specifically, it concentrates on the resettlement policies of the People’s Republic of China and their impact on the livelihoods and culture of Tibetan nomads. Additionally, it seeks to link this contemporary story of development-based loss within the wider global narrative of cultural and biological loss of all traditional peoples, particularly nomadic peoples. It goes on to emphasize one vital aspect of global Indigenous culture, indigenous Knowledge (IK), and calls for its urgent protection under international law. Finally, the paper calls for global policy makers to strengthen international law relating to indigenous issues, and in the process, compelling China, and all the central global actors, to live up to their pledges and commitments within the international human rights framework.