Development and Sustainable Ethics in Fanjingshan National Nature Reserve, China

Abstract

In March 2013, several thousand delegates at China’s National People’s Congress voted to approve the environmentally sensitive and authoritarian Xi Jinping as president. This portended dramatic changes in environmental policies, not least of which was an offsetting of top-down development-at-all-costs dogma with a new official orthodoxy focused on a sustainable and circular economy, with inclusive and more rounded growth. This article is part of a long-term project (2008–2018) in Fanjingshan National Nature Reserve in Guizhou Province that took place as the political scene in Beijing shifted. The larger project is about human–environment dynamics and complexities focusing on the preservation of snub-nosed golden monkey habitat and the implementation of top-down grain-to-green and national forest conservation programs. This article is about the contexts of two development projects, one in the reserve and one just outside of it, with very different outcomes. Drawing on the work of Arturo Escobar, Rosi Braidotti, and Xiaobo Su, we argue for development in a time and place of rapid change as if marginalized farmers and their families mattered and the possibility of sustainable ethics with a locatable politics. The article elaborates the potency of this kind of sustainability through the stories of families living on Fanjingshan Reserve in the midst of (1) authoritarian environmental policy proclamations from Beijing and (2) boisterous local development. Key Words: China, development, sustainability.

2013年三月举行的中国全国人民代表大会中, 数千名代表投票赞成对环境敏感的威权主义者习近平作为国家领导人。此一在环境政策上预兆式的戏剧性转变, 本身不仅是以聚焦可持续的循环经济之崭新官方正统, 抵销由上而下不惜一切代价的发展主义信念, 同时具有包容且更为全面的成长。本文是在北京的政治场景变迁下进行的贵州省梵淨山国家自然保护区的长期计画（2008至2018年）的一部分。更大规模的计画, 则关乎人类—自然动态和聚焦白鼻金丝猴栖地保育的复杂性, 以及执行由上而下的退耕还林与国家森林保育计画。本文关乎结果互异的两大发展计画脉络, 一个在保育区中, 一个则正好落在保育区之外。运用艾斯柯巴、布莱多蒂, 以及苏晓波的研究, 我们支持受到边缘化的农民及其家庭在巨变的时地中好似重要的发展, 以及可定位其政治的可持续性伦理之潜能。本文通过在（1）北京的威权环境政策宣言和（2）勐烈的地方发展期间, 居住于梵淨山保护区的家庭故事, 阐述此般可持续性的效力。 关键词： 中国, 发展, 可持续性。

En marzo de 2013, varios miles de delegados al Congreso Nacional del Pueblo de China votaron para consagrar como presidente al ambientalmente sensible y autoritario Xi Jinping. Esta decisión presagiaba cambios dramáticos en las políticas ambientales, el no menor de los cuales era la compensación del dogma de desarrollo impuesto a toda costa desde arriba como una nueva ortodoxia oficial centrada en economía circular sustentable, con un crecimiento incluyente y más robusto. Este artículo hace parte de un proyecto a largo término (2008–2018) en la Reserva Natural Nacional de Fanjingshan, Provincia de Guizhou, proyecto que se desarrolló a medida que cambiaba la escena política en Beijing. El proyecto de mayor amplitud es acerca de las dinámicas y complejidades humano–ambientales enfocadas hacia la preservación del hábitat del mono dorado de nariz chata y la implementación desde lo alto de programas nacionales de paso del grano a lo verde y la conservación de bosques. El artículo es acerca de los contextos de dos proyectos de desarrollo, uno en la reserva y otro justo afuera de ésta, con resultados muy diferentes. A partir de los trabajos de Arturo Escobar, Rosi Braidotti y Xiaobo Su, discutimos el desarrollo en un tiempo y lugar de rápido cambio, como si los agricultores marginados y sus familias importaran algo, y la posibilidad de una ética sustentable con una política localizable. El artículo elabora la potencia de este tipo de sustentabilidad por medio de historias de familias que viven en la Reserva Fanjingshan en medio de (1) la proclamación de políticas ambientales autoritarias de Beijing y (2) el estrepitoso desarrollo local.

Palabras clave:

• China
• desarrollo
• sustentabilidad.

Notes

Notes

1 We conducted open-ended household interviews after administering a questionnaire, informed consent scripts, and a name and address coding mechanism. We ensured confidentiality throughout the study—thus, farmers’ and family members’ identities and personal information, as well as their answers to sensitive questions, were not revealed to individuals outside of the research project, nor were they revealed to FNNR staff or local government personnel. Further, we explained the survey purpose and reassured local people that there was no obligation to participate. If there was any sign of hesitation or discomfort during the interview, we dropped the conversation immediately. With those measures, we are confident that local peoples’ participation was voluntary, our dialogues with them were equitable and trustful, and the data we collected in the survey reflected thoughts, emotions, and behaviors with regard to national development and environmental programs.

2 Tolls are approximately US$0.30 for each kilometer usage of the highway, and the average annual income of local farmers is barely US$1,000.

3 As in other rural areas of China, the residence registration (hukou) system demands that rural labor-oriented migrants (called a floating population; Liang 2001) move only “temporarily” (at the scale from weeks and sometimes years) to their migration destinations (often cities). Such temporary migrants keep their hukou and belongings (e.g., their farmland and houses) at their original villages and often come back to celebrate spring festivals at the Lunar New Year. Based on surveys in spring 2010, 2013, and 2015, we determined that an average of one third of family members in each household has done or is doing temporary work outside of the FNNR, where they mostly live in cities. It is not entirely clear whether hukou reform is responsible for these migrations.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Stuart C. Aitken

STUART C. AITKEN is Distinguished Professor of Geography and June Burnett Chair at San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182. E-mail: [email protected]. His research interests include critical social theory, development, young people and families, masculinities, and film.

Li An

LI AN is Professor of Geography at San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182. E-mail: [email protected]. His research focuses on complex human–environment systems, geographic information science, landscape ecology, and complex systems theory and modeling.

Shuang Yang

SHUANG YANG is an Assistant Professor of College of Harbor, Waterway and Coastal Engineering at Chongqing JiaoTong University, China. E-mail: [email protected]. His research focuses on complex human–environment systems, geographic information science, and complex systems theory and modeling.