Sustainable development in minority areas in China

This paper uses political ecology to analyze the dynamic relation between the Moso minority, their surrounding natural resources and environmental degradation in four periods. It shows that the ecological changes in the Lugu Lake region was intimately linked to the development path of China after the establishment of the People’s Republic in 1949. The paper argues that the mainstream statement which saw underdevelopment and traditional living practices of local poor people, especially the minorities, were the main cause of environmental degradation in western China as reductionist and problematic. In addition, it points out that the purely technical-oriented sustainable development policies in minority areas which ignore the power relation between the majority and minorities and lack a comprehensive concern for cultural difference could bring unintended social, economic and cultural impacts and inequalities.