River-Sand Mining: an Ethnography of Resource Conflict in China: An Ethnography of Resource Conflict in China

Anyone who cares about the environment cannot ignore the overmining of river-sand. This book explores how river sand in Zhuang villages in China has been overexploited with disastrous environmental (or social and environmental) consequences, despite official state ownership of the sand, national and local laws regulating mining, and peasant resistance. Half Title 2 Series Information 3 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Contents 8 Preface 12 Acknowledgments 14 Illustrations 16 Notes on the Text 19 Chapter 1 Introduction 20 1 A Brief History of River-Sand Mining: A National Perspective 24 2 The Current Demand for River Sand in China 29 3 The Political Ecology of River-Sand Mining 33 4 The Concept of Indigeneity in China 39 5 The Zhuang and Their Indigenous Ecological Knowledge 42 6 The Objective, Research Questions, and Structure of This Book 51 Chapter 2 The Research Setting and Conducting Research “at Home” 54 1 The Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region: Human–Environment Relations in Historical Perspective 54 2 Qinzhou City, Zhuang Towns, the River, and the Villages 60 2.1 Huangwutun Town 61 2.2 Xintang Town 64 2.3 Six Villages along the Maoling River 65 2.3.1 Mei Village: An Example of Agricultural Crisis and Its Impact on Outmigration 70 2.3.2 Migrant Workers Who Settle in Urban Areas 73 3 Starting Research in Mei Village: Topic Determination During Fieldwork 77 4 Methods 81 4.1 Choosing the Key Informants 82 5 Multiple Positions: Conducting Research “at Home” and Beyond 86 Chapter 3 The Commodity Chain of River Sand and the Ecological Consequences of River-Sand Mining 89 1 The Commodification of River Sand 89 1.1 The Increase in River Sand Prices and the Use of New Technology 93 2 The Sand Rush along the Maoling River 94 2.1 Illegal Sand Miners on the Upper Reaches of the Maoling River 95 2.2 Illegal Sand Miners on the Lower Maoling River 97 2.2.1 Case Study 1: The Family-Owned Sand Company 98 2.2.2 Case Study 2: Changing Status from Worker to Owner 102 2.3 The Outsiders and the Insiders: The Boom in Illegal Sand Mining 104 2.3.1 Case Study of a Female Miner: No Worry about the Customers 108 2.3.2 Case Study of a Local Miner Restarting His Business: Performing a Rite before Mining 109 3 The Role of Sand Wholesalers and the Sand Market in the Commodity Chain 112 3.1 A Sand Wholesaler in Qinzhou City 113 3.2 The Sand Market in Nanning City 114 3.3 Truck and Ship Owners 116 4 The Ecological Consequences of Sand Commodification 118 4.1 Loss of Fish Species 119 4.2 Water Pollution 121 4.3 Destruction of Riverbanks and Adjacent Farmlands 124 4.4 Loss of Life 128 4.5 Damage to Infrastructure: Roads and Bridges 130 5 Conclusion 133 Chapter 4 Government Policies and the Commodification of River Sand 136 1 Project-Based Development and Its Role in the Marketization of Sand 136 2 Urbanization in Formerly Rural Areas 140 2.1 The Incorporation of Rural Areas into Large Cities 141 2.2 Rapidly Expanding Towns 144 2.3 Rebuilding the Administrative Committee’s Offices 147 2.4 Private House Construction in Rural Areas 148 3 Infrastructural Projects in Rural Areas 153 3.1 Water Conservation 153 3.2 Two Case Studies of the “One Project, One Discussion System” 154 3.2.1 Case Study 1: A 390-meter Cement Road Project in Mei Village in 2012 156 3.2.2 Case Study 2: A 220-meter Cement Road Project in Mei Village in 2015 158 4 The Counterproductive Aspects of the Project System in Villages 162 5 Conclusion 166 Chapter 5 State Ownership and Governmental Management of River Sand 168 1 Laws Governing River-Sand Mining and the State Ownership of River Sand 169 2 Horizontal Politics in the Governance of River-Sand Mining 174 3 Vertical Politics in the Governance of River-Sand Mining 179 4 Sand-Management Policies at the Provincial Level: Power Decentralization and Autonomy 185 5 River-Sand Auctions at the Prefectural Level: Sand-Mining Licensing in Practice 186 5.1 The Deceptive Success of Auctions of Sand-Mining Licenses 187 5.2 The Effects of Corruption and Mismanagement on the Sand-Mining License System 191 6 The (Non-)Governance of River Sand at the Township Level: A Lack of Authority 196 7 Discussion and Conclusion 200 Chapter 6 Zhuang Villages’ Perspectives on Property Rights: “This is Our Sand” 205 1 The Emergence of Sand “Thieves” and Ownership Problems 206 2 The “Blame Game” and the Complexity of Rights on the Commons 208 3 Selling Sand on the Instructions of Government Officials 213 4 Selling Sand to Defend a Village’s Right to Common Resources 216 5 An Illegal Sand Agreement and Its Implications 222 6 Discussion and Conclusion 227 Chapter 7 The Sociocultural Consequences of Illegal Sand Mining and Local Resistance 230 1 Consequences for Agricultural Livelihoods 231 2 Social Conflicts and Local Resistance against Sand Mining 233 2.1 Resistance through Throwing Stones 235 2.2 Resistance through Appealing to Formal Government Channels 237 2.3 Resistance through Petitioning 240 2.4 Resistance through Social Media 243 3 Sand Exploitation and Its Impact on Indigenous Belief Systems 247 3.1 Case One: The Supernatural Punishment of Violators 249 3.2 Case Two: The Infestation of Gods’ Trees by Insects 249 3.3 Case Three: The Death of Some Elders 250 4 Discussion and Conclusion 253 Chapter 8 Conclusion 255 References 266 Index 300 "This book explores the overexploitation of river-sand and its impact on Zhuang communities in China. A topical phenomenon, the book engages with the concept of authoritarian environmental management through a detailed analysis of state laws and policies on river-sand mining. Additional rich ethnographic material shows that riverfront Zhuang villagers and their indigenous ecological knowledge cannot compete with government policy, economic forces, and development trends in gaining control over river sand governance. This book provides appealing case studies in the interdisciplinary field of political ecology. As an example of "anthropology of home", it is of specific methodological interest"-- Provided by publisher