A prosaic state? Development visions, banal state encounters and indigenous politics in south-west China

ABSTRACT

This article examines state–society relations expressed in the politics of land in Lugu Lake, south-west China, inhabited by an ethnic group called Mosuo. Since the 1980s, Mosuo people have spearheaded successive waves of construction booms in the lakeshore lands to enliven a grassroots tourism economy, while economic empowerment has played a key role in reviving traditional household organization, familial relations and cultural practices. However, since the early 2000s, grassroots development initiatives have been subject to increasingly stringent regulation imposed by the local state, on the ground of conserving the natural environment and protecting the cultural authenticity of built environments. Based on this case study, this article aims to enrich our understandings of how the state and society are contingently constituted amidst indigenous development. It does so by arguing for: (1) the ambivalence, multiplicity and uncertainty of the state; (2) the articulations of capitalist ethos, communal interests and moral values in grassroots development practices; and (3) the contestations and tensions among competing development visions, a concept that we elaborate here. Engaging with the notion of the prosaic state, this study pays special attention to the banal encounters through which local Mosuo people make sense of statecraft and state power.

KEYWORDS:

• Indigenous development
• state–society relations
• environmental governance
• cultural governance
• development vision
• the prosaic state
• land politics
• south-west China

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 In addition to Mosuo people, Lugu Lake is inhabited by small numbers of Han and Pumi. Pumi have been largely acculturated into Mosuo customs.

2 The interviewed officials include one local Mosuo and two Han.

3 In addition to this protection, Mosuo, like other ethnic minorities in China, have access to preferential family-planning policies, more generous development subsidies and state-sponsored protection of local cultures. Still, the protection of land ownership is the most relevant factor to the current study.

4 This process, however, cannot be seen as a process of urbanization because it is restricted to a small area, influences a small population, does not eliminate agricultural production in the village and does not create an urban society defined by anonymous relations.

5 For more information, see http://www.mosuo.org.cn/index.asp.

6 See Compilation 2015.

7 The original video of the programme is no longer available because it was broadcast a long time ago. For a transcript of the programme, see Sina.com.cn, 5 June 2004, athttp://news.sina.com.cn/c/2004-06-05/15203387793.shtml?from=wap.

8 However, the demolition and relocation of lakeshore buildings were not carried out in Luoshui because the large stock of houses made it unpractical.

9 See Compilation 2015.

10 See Document 26, 1987, issued by the county government of Ninglang.

11 The two provisos are based on the state-ratified Detailed Planning of Lugu Lake Scenic Resort, completed in 2012; see Compilation 2015.

12 This affected 37 houses in total in Luoshui.

13 This summary is aggregated from several interviews with villagers and local officials.

14 See Compilation 2005.

15 The text of the open letter was retrieved from the interviewees.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant numbers 41601135 and 41871124].