How Ecology is Forgotten During the Process of Ecological Relocation: A Case Study of S Banner in Inner Mongolia from a Sociological Perspective

A talk by Professor Bao Zhiming (Department of Sociology, Minzu University of China; HYI Visiting Scholar 2010-11) will be held at Harvard University

Based on fieldwork carried out in Inner Mongolia’s S Banner region, Professor Bao’s study reveals that the implementation of ecological relocation policy is a social process involving the participation of multiple social agents including the central government, local governments, market elites, farmers and herdsmen. Their complicated interaction embodies the nexus of power and interests between government, the market and local people. Local governments occupy a central position in the relationship network which forms during the process and their conflicting dual roles of “agent political operator” and “profit-seeking political operator” causes great uncertainty for the direction of top-down government-led environmental policy.

Discussant: Professor Mark Elliott, Mark Schwartz Professor of Chinese and Inner Asian History, Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University