Development Discourses on the Tibetan Plateau: Urbanization and Expropriation of Farmland in Dartsedo

The term ‘development’ defines the Chinese official discourse on Tibet and Tibetans. The ideology of development has been articulated in relation to what development symbolically means, and how it should be practiced within the frame of representation and implementation of development projects and programs. The aim of this paper is thus to investigate what development come to mean for the grassroots community of development subjects in light of the official versus counter-official development discourses. Specifically, I examine how the relocated villagers in Kangding (Tib. Dartsedo) experience, and respond to, one official development project, namely \u27New Kangding Town\u27 construction (kangding xincheng) project. I discuss, first of all, how the project has affected the lives of local villagers in Kangding, and the ‘coping’ strategies the villagers have adopted as the process of urbanization unfolds. Then, I argue that in contrast to the conventional representation of village life as ‘backward’ and ‘poor’, the immediate economic conditions and livelihood in general has, ironically, deteriorated compare to the \u27subsistent\u27 economy prior to the development. Despite invocation of the glittering language of ‘people first’ and ‘scientific’ development, implementation of this development project in reality stands in sharp contrast with what has been otherwise portrayed in public discourse. In other words, the notion of development has been by and large taken for granted in the discourses of development. On the other hand, when deployed, whether officially or unofficially, the concept of development has come to carry multiple meanings depending on the context within which it is being constructed. One of the contentions of the new town plan has been its ‘inability’ to address the villagers’ livelihoods in the post-relocation period. In fact, there seems to have been an underlying assumption that the construction of a new town would automatically create opportunities and prosperity for the villagers in the future, but without much concrete proposal at present to achieve such an objective. I further argue that the official development discourse tends to construct the villagers as “backward” and “passive”, and in need of state intervention in order to develop them. In the process, it thus fails to take into account of the dynamic agency and proactive participation of the villagers in the construction of their own counter-discourse of development. Finally, I will discuss the interface between the development officials and the villagers in the light of the Fergusonian ‘side effects’ of the project. One notable implication has been, in addition to, an immediate decline of household income, loss of economic freedom or income stability. In other words, the production of ‘economic dependency\u27 on state institutions, in spite of lack of sustained livelihood support or compensation, has been the major ‘unintended’ outcome due to the dispossession and the displacement of their farmland and home, respectively. Furthermore, as the village has transformed into a new town, the administrative apparatus of the state mechanism has also expanded into rural social spaces, infringing on traditional institutions

<Typology> Evidential system of copulative and existential verbs in Lamo

This article describes the evidential system of Lamo (Kyilwa dialect), focusing on the copulative and existential verbs and referring to the model of the evidential system of Tibetic languages. Lamo is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken in lDongpa and Zhonglinka Townships in mDzogong County, Chamdo Municipality, Tibet Autonomous Region, China. The article examines the evidential system of Lamo by employing the questionnaire designed for Tibetic languages. Some striking features are the following: The same framework on evidentiality functions in both copulative and existential verbs; different independent stems are used according to evidential categories; animacy for existential verbs is not distinctive; inferential evidentials distinguish sensory inferential from logical inferential in the morphological aspect; and egophoric verb stems are principally used in inferentials. The results demonstrate that the system of core evidentials (egophoric, statemental, sensory) is highly similar to the framework, as well as the morphology of Tibetic languages in Khams, especially Lhagang Tibetan. The morphological strategy of sensory and logical inferentials is partially common to Tibetic languages, but Lamo has its unique evolution which does not correspond to Tibetic. The article concludes that Lamo's the evidential framework corresponds to that of Tibetic languages of which inferential categories have been on a developing stage

The Historical Status of China’s Tibet

China is a unified country with 56 nationalities. As a major member of this big family, the Tibetans are found in large numbers throughout the Tibet Autonomous Region, most parts of Qinghai Province, southern Gansu Province, northwest Sichuan Province and northwest Yunnan Province.            At the time of the unification of the Tibetan race, its various tribes maintained close ties with the Han and several other nationalities in western and northwestern China. During the first part of the 7th century, Tubo King Songtsan Gambo unified the various Tibetan tribes on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and formed the Tubo Kingdom, which later maintained frequent contact with the Central Government of the Tang Dynasty (618-907). The marriages of Songtsan Gambo to Princess Wen Cheng and Tride Zhotsan to Princess Jin Cheng indicate that the Tibetan and the Han nationalities had gradually formed close political, economic and cultural ties. In the mid-9th century, the unified Tubo Kingdom collapsed. This was followed by the rise of many local warring factions in the Tibetan areas of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. When the Song Dynasty (960-1279) was founded in the Han-dominated areas of China, some of these local Tibetan forces (Tibetan tribes formerly subject to rule by the Tubo Kingdom) pledged allegiance to the Song court. The relations between the Tibetans and the Han became even closer during this period

Laws and Regulations Impacting the Enclosure Movement on the Tibetan Plateau of China

There are few comprehensive surveys addressing the evolution of China’s grassland policies, particularly with respect to fencing. As a necessary prologue to such an inquiry, this paper presents the national-level laws and regulations that have structured contemporary property regimes and affected the rate and extent of the enclosure movement in pastoral western China, with a focus on Tibetan areas. Based on this review of the legal and political framework of enclosure on the Tibetan Plateau, I will argue that the intent and sequencing of development policies in pastoral areas has been based on the overriding logic of modernization, privatization, and intensification (Yeh 2005). This logic, in turn, has been used to promote enclosure and rationalize heavy investments in technologies of control – policies that reflect the state’s political goals in Tibetan areas and which may have unintended consequences, including increased grazing pressure on, and degradation of, the very rangeland resources that are putatively being protected by enclosures. Rather than addressing critical socio-economic constraints in pastoral areas such as population pressures and market distortions (Shen 2004), policy makers have focused instead on technical interventions (e.g., reseeding, improving the genetics of livestock breeds) without recognizing the integrated nature of the challenges confronting Tibetan pastoralists amidst ongoing and rapid shifts in their socio-economic situation

Hva påvirker menn?

I dagens samfunn er vi opptatt av hvordan vi fremstår. Kvinner i medier blir omdiskutert for hvordan de skal se ut og være, hvor mannens oppfatning av hvordan de selv skal være forsvinner bak diskusjonen om kvinnen. Dette gjør mannen til et interessant tema. Vi ønsket å se på effekten magasiner har på menn, og om dette fører til stress. På bakgrunn av dette er vår problemstilling: «om mannsidealet i magasiner fører til stress hos menn?» Teorien forankret i oppgaven skal lede oss til å forstå problemstillingen. Temaene som blir tatt opp viser hvordan mannen har blitt fremstilt i historien, som skal være med på å forstå forventningene menn har til seg selv. Begrepet stress blir forklart, hvor en knytter dette opp mot mestring og motivasjon. På bakgrunn av problemstillingen foretok vi en fenomenologisk forskningsdesign. Dette skulle gi et svar på hvordan undersøkelsesobjektene oppfatter virkeligheten. Det ble gjort dybdeintervjuer av tre lagsportsutøvere og tre kroppsbyggere. Informantene er alle bosatt i Norge, og i alderen 19-29. Funnene i undersøkelsen ble kategorisert i åtte ulike temaer, hvor lagsportsutøvere og kroppsbyggere ble analysert hver for seg under hvert tema. Til slutt ble funnene i analysen samlet i et helhetlig resultat, der man så på likhetene og forskjellene for både lagsport og kroppsbygging. Ut i fra funnene i analysen dannet dette en konklusjon for problemstillingen. Det kom frem til at mannsideale i magasiner kan føre til stress hos men

Transcriptome Sequencing in a Tibetan Barley Landrace with High Resistance to Powdery Mildew

Hulless barley is an important cereal crop worldwide, especially in Tibet of China. However, this crop is usually susceptible to powdery mildew caused by Blumeria graminis f. sp. hordei. In this study, we aimed to understand the functions and pathways of genes involved in the disease resistance by transcriptome sequencing of a Tibetan barley landrace with high resistance to powdery mildew. A total of 831 significant differentially expressed genes were found in the infected seedlings, covering 19 functions. Either “cell,” “cell part,” and “extracellular region” in the cellular component category or “binding” and “catalytic” in the category of molecular function as well as “metabolic process” and “cellular process” in the biological process category together demonstrated that these functions may be involved in the resistance to powdery mildew of the hulless barley. In addition, 330 KEGG pathways were found using BLASTx with an E-value cut-off of <10−5. Among them, three pathways, namely, “photosynthesis,” “plant-pathogen interaction,” and “photosynthesis-antenna proteins” had significant matches in the database. Significant expressions of the three pathways were detected at 24 h, 48 h, and 96 h after infection, respectively. These results indicated a complex process of barley response to powdery mildew infection

Analysis of malnutrition of preschool children from Zhag’yab County in Tibet

Objective To investigate physical development level of preschool children from Zhag’yab County in Tibet，aiming to provide reference for improving the nutritional status of children in this region. Methods In this cross-sectional study，the height and weight of children aged 3-6 years old from Zhag’yab County in Tibet were measured. The nutritional status was evaluated according to the WHO child growth standards. Results The overall prevalence rates of malnutrition， stunting， underweight and wasting were 22.6%， 13.0%， 10.9% and 10.0%， respectively. The differences between urban and rural areas were statistically significant （all P &lt;0.05）. No statistical significance was observed among different age groups （all P &gt; 0.05）. Conclusion In Zhag’yab County， the physical development level of preschool children is poor and the malnutrition rate is relatively high. Significant difference can be noted between urban and rural areas. Extensive attention should be paid to scientific feeding and children health，especially in rural area

The influence of maternal psychosocial circumstances and physical environment on the risk of severe wasting in rural Gambian infants: a mixed methods approach.

BACKGROUND: Severe wasting affects 16 million under 5's and carries an immediate risk of death. Prevalence remains unacceptably high in sub-Saharan Africa and early infancy is a high-risk period. We aimed to explore risk factors for severe wasting in rural Gambian infants. METHODS: We undertook a case-control study from November 2014 to June 2015, in rural Gambia. Cases had WHO standard weight-for-length z-scores (WLZ)  -3 in the same interval, matched on age, gender, village size and distance from the clinic were selected. Standard questionnaires were used to assess maternal socioeconomic status, water sanitation and hygiene and maternal mental health. Conditional logistic regression using a multivariable model was used to determine the risk factors for severe wasting. Qualitative in depth interviews were conducted with mothers and fathers who were purposively sampled. A thematic framework was used to analyse the in-depth interviews. RESULTS: Two hundred and eighty (77 cases and 203 controls) children were recruited. In-depth interviews were conducted with 16 mothers, 3 fathers and 4 research staff members. The mean age of introduction of complementary feeds was similar between cases and controls (5.2 [SD 1.2] vs 5.1 [SD 1.3] months). Increased odds of severe wasting were associated with increased frequency of complementary feeds (range 1-8) [adjusted OR 2.06 (95%: 1.17-3.62), p = 0.01]. Maternal adherence to the recommended infant care practices was influenced by her social support networks, most importantly her husband, by infant feeding difficulties and maternal psychosocial stressors that include death of a child or spouse, recurrent ill health of child and lack of autonomy in child spacing. CONCLUSION: In rural Gambia, inappropriate infant feeding practices were associated with severe wasting in infants. Additionally, adverse psychosocial circumstances and infant feeding difficulties constrain mothers from practising the recommended child care practices. Interventions that promote maternal resilience through gender empowerment, prioritising maternal psychosocial support and encouraging the involvement of fathers in infant and child care promotion strategies, would help prevent severe wasting in these infants