The Mountains and the City: Pastoral Life in Northwest China

For the average shepherd living in Qinghai and Gansu, China fifteen years ago, life revolved around the yak. Then, dramatic changes to economic, political, and social landscapes in the region began severely disrupting shepherds' abilities to pursue their traditional pastoral lifestyles. Most striking has been the Chinese government's project of "ecological resettlement"—which requires families living in the "Three Rivers Source" reserve to relocate to nearby urban centers to combat the effects of anthropogenic environmental damage. In this paper, I examine how a fundamental reconfiguration of pastoralism has occurred along the lines of environmental discourse. Using ethnographic methods, I demonstrate how the Chinese state has selectively isolated, classified, and operationalized different parts of the traditional pastoral lifestyle through a project of sustainability. Finally, I find that, as a result of their interactions with external policies and institutions, the shepherds' conceptual universes have been subtly yet profoundly transformed.