Childs, Geoff

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HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies Volume 40 Number 1 Article 16 November 2020 Review of Trading Caterpillar Fungus in Tibet: When Economic Boom Hits Rural Area by Emilia Roza Sulek Geoff Childs Washington University in St. Louis Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/himalaya Recommended Citation Childs, Geoff. 2020. Review of Trading Caterpillar Fungus in Tibet: When Economic Boom Hits Rural Area by Emilia Roza Sulek. HIMALAYA 40(1). Available at: https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/himalaya/vol40/iss1/16 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License. This Review is brought to you for free and open access by the DigitalCommons@Macalester College at DigitalCommons@Macalester College. It has been accepted for inclusion in HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Macalester College. For more information, please contact scholarpub@macalester.edu. HIMALAYA Volume 40, Number 1 | 121                                                                      Trading Caterpillar Fungus in Tibet: When Economic Boom Hits Rural Area. Emilia Roza Sulek. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2019. 326 pages. ISBN 9048536294, 9789048536290. Reviewed by Geof Childs Recent years have witnessed a flurry of research on “caterpillar fungus” (Ophiocordyceps sinensis;yartsa gumbu [dbyar rtswa dgun ‘bu] in Tibetan). While most studies published thus far are limited in scope and based on short-term fieldwork, Emilia Sulek has produced the first book-length account of a commodity that is transforming the social, cultural, and economic lives of communities across the Tibetan Plateau. Based on eleven months of fieldwork between 2007 and 2010 in Golok Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, China, Sulek provides a sensitive, nuanced portrayal of people who gather and trade caterpillar fungus in the shadow of government regulators. The book’s aim is to document how income from caterpillar fungus has been used by pastoralists to transform their lifestyles. The slim theoretical scaffolding centers on development and modernity, and makes the not very novel points that development is a problematic concept because it implies a unilinear march of progress and that “Western patterns of modernity are not the only ‘authentic’ ones and modernity is not one but many” (pp.20-25). Critiquing unilinear models of social evolution has a century-long history and advocating for “multiple modernities” to critique modernization theory began decades ago. Nevertheless, Sulek delivers the most detailed account to date of yartsa gumbu’s impact on a society, so the weak theoretical framing does not detract from the study’s strengths. The book centers on two groups:rural pastoralists who collectcaterpillar fungus and town-dwellingtraders who purchase it. The stateis omnipresent with its regulatoryaims that collectors and tradersmust navigate. Following theintroduction, chapters move throughan overview of Golok as the researchsite, a detailed account of diggingfor caterpillar fungus, a discussionof yartsa gumbu as a medicinalcommodity, an examination ofmarkets and traders, an analysisof rules and policies designed toregulate the commodity, and threeconcluding chapters dealing withcash generated from the sale ofcaterpillar fungus. The authorintersperses evocative, first-handaccounts with useful data on yartsagumbu prices and survey findingsto shed light on the relationshipbetween a household’s compositionand engagement with digging, thegendered dimension of gatheringand selling activities, and the wayspeople use their yartsa gumbuincome. The most fascinating insightsemerge from rich ethnographicdescriptions, for example thetactile depiction of trekking intothe hills at dawn in search of theelusive fungus, and a discussion ofpastoralists’ strategies to balanceselling some yartsa gumbu “fresh”(uncleaned) which requires lessprocessing time but yields lowerprofits, versus taking time to cleaneach piece which risks loweringthe price through breakage. Shedescribes a bartering process,illustrated by a diagram, involvingprice signals conveyed throughgestures between buyer and sellerwhile their hands are concealed ineach other’s sleeves. Theoreticalinterludes appear in measured doses.For example, in a section called“Dangerous Money” Sulek draws onSimmel, Marx, and Taussig to discussmoral issues that arise when peopledig for yartsa gumbu on auspiciousdays. Golok’s fungus collectorsmust consider the consequencesof disturbing zhibdag (bzhi bdag)who dwell in the ground and areconsidered the ultimate owners ofthe commodity. The moral precarityof money varies depending on whencaterpillar fungus was gathered (e.g.,auspicious days) and how fast oneaccumulates profits. Risk mitigationstrategies include consulting anastrologer to find out where andwhen to dig and devoting someproceeds to religious offerings topacify the zhibdag (pp. 186-191). In the penultimate chapters the reader learns how caterpillar fungus income is transforming several dimensions of Golok society including mobility (the acquisition of motorbikes and cars) and accommodations. Families that lived exclusively in tents not long ago now have two or more houses. Although the structures retain certain traditional principles, for example the way they are sited in relation to hillsides and exposure to the sun, they have become progressively larger, sturdier, more subdivided into multiple rooms with several stoves, and embellished with gables and other design features. In addition 122 | HIMALAYA Fall 2020                                             Emilia Sulek has produced the frst book-length account of a commodity that is transforming the social, cultural, and economic lives of communities across the Tibetan Plateau Childs on Trading Caterpillar Fungus in Tibet: When Economic Boom Hits Rural Area. to interiors being festooned with appropriate signs of political loyalty such as posters of China’s political leaders, houses include shrine rooms decorated with images of Buddhas, deities, and tulku (sprul sku, reincarnate lama). From the author’s survey we also learn the extent to which houses became populated with consumer electronics. Such technological acquisitions prompted further changes, for example, piped water systems to spare women the time it takes to fetch water for their washing machines. By documenting careful household strategies for uplifting living standards and investing in the future, this chapter challenges allegations that Golok residents squander most of their sudden wealth on cavorting and gambling. In the concluding chapter Sulek addresses a key question: why does the state not regulate the caterpillar fungus trade more aggressively? The author suggests that leaving this part of the economy “uncontrolled and unregulated may actually serve the state and officials’ interests” (p.260). The logic draws from the PRC philosophy that political stability is rooted in economic concerns; if people are satisfied that their standard of living is on the rise, they are less likely to cause trouble. Pastoralists who evade regulations and officials who turn a blind eye are therefore engaging in a symbiotic form of economic collaboration that advances the interests of both sides. Yet some people in Golok find the newfound wealth to be problematic on the grounds that it leads pastoralists astray from traditional lifestyles and practices. This is a fitting conclusion to the book as it highlights how economic improvements are fraught with conflicting values. Following the concluding chapter, the afterword on research methodology is an articulate and honest reflection on conducting research under very challenging circumstances. It would have been more useful to include this account in the book’s introduction to preclude any impression a reader might form that the fieldwork was unsystematic or unrepresentative of much beyond a select group of individuals. To the contrary, the author reveals a heightened attention to sampling, to interacting with individuals on all sides of the commodity chain, and to using multiple methodologies including a survey that provides contextual data to support the arguments. Sulek reveals not just the ordeals of conducting research in an unofficial capacity, but also how precarity opened doors and increased rapport with her interlocutors. The afterword is a testament to the author’s fortitude, and a valuable addition to any qualitative research seminar’s reading list. In summary, the dearth of theoryin this book has pros and cons.On the positive side, it is writtenin a clear, engaging mannerand illustrated with abundantethnographic details, which isnot always the case when theoryeclipses data. As such, it will be veryappealing to scholars of Tibetansocieties, the Himalayan region,and China. On the other hand, thelack of theoretical engagement withstudies on commodities and thepolitical economy of production andconsumption will make the book lessvisible to a broader audience of socialscientists. Regardless, Emilia Sulek isto be commended for this invaluablecontribution to our understandingof social and economic processes incontemporary Tibetan societies. Geoff Childs is an anthropologicaldemographer who studies the interplayof culture and population processes(fertility, migration, and aging) inHimalayan societies. He is a professorat Washington University in St.Louis, and the author of several booksincluding From a Trickle to a Torrent:Education, Migration, and SocialChange in a Himalayan Valley of Nepal co-authored with NamgyalChoedup (2019, University of CaliforniaPress). 

Review of Trading Caterpillar Fungus in Tibet: When Economic Boom Hits Rural Area by Emilia Roza Sulek

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Review of Trading Caterpillar Fungus in Tibet: When Economic Boom Hits Rural Area by Emilia Roza Sulek

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