Logics of Extraction and of the Valorisation of Culture: The Role of Post-extraction Investment in the Creation of Inequality in China
What sort of social and economic arrangements are enabled by an extractive economy and its successors? How are patterns of social stratification influenced by these processes? Drawing on ethnographic evidence collected in a tourist destination town in Yunnan that is surrounded by iron mines, I argue...
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Institut de Hautes Études Internationales et du Développement
2023-06-01
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| Series: | Revue Internationale de Politique de Développement |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/poldev/6011 |
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| author | Ryan Parsons |
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| description | What sort of social and economic arrangements are enabled by an extractive economy and its successors? How are patterns of social stratification influenced by these processes? Drawing on ethnographic evidence collected in a tourist destination town in Yunnan that is surrounded by iron mines, I argue that the underlying logics of extractivism persist into the development of a service sector economy (in this case, tourism). The specific case documents economic and social change in a community being reshaped by an emergent cultural tourism industry. New logics of extractivism are motivated by an assumption that peripheral capital is raw and unchanging and exists to be processed, monetised, and consumed by core elites. Even as the makeup of economic sectors change, the national periphery continues to be a site of raw resources to be extracted and valorised by elites and other stakeholders from urban cores. The effect of this extractive tourism industry is to flatten, ossify, and ‘legibilise’ culture in ways that prioritise performance and experience over the agency of local people. The resulting reformation of cultural practice creates new forms of inequality, here marked by gender and ethnicity. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-85943f750e3843d2b73bbd306451ccc2 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1663-9375 1663-9391 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | Institut de Hautes Études Internationales et du Développement |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Revue Internationale de Politique de Développement |
| spelling | doaj-art-85943f750e3843d2b73bbd306451ccc22025-08-20T01:55:58ZengInstitut de Hautes Études Internationales et du DéveloppementRevue Internationale de Politique de Développement1663-93751663-93912023-06-011610.4000/poldev.6011Logics of Extraction and of the Valorisation of Culture: The Role of Post-extraction Investment in the Creation of Inequality in ChinaRyan ParsonsWhat sort of social and economic arrangements are enabled by an extractive economy and its successors? How are patterns of social stratification influenced by these processes? Drawing on ethnographic evidence collected in a tourist destination town in Yunnan that is surrounded by iron mines, I argue that the underlying logics of extractivism persist into the development of a service sector economy (in this case, tourism). The specific case documents economic and social change in a community being reshaped by an emergent cultural tourism industry. New logics of extractivism are motivated by an assumption that peripheral capital is raw and unchanging and exists to be processed, monetised, and consumed by core elites. Even as the makeup of economic sectors change, the national periphery continues to be a site of raw resources to be extracted and valorised by elites and other stakeholders from urban cores. The effect of this extractive tourism industry is to flatten, ossify, and ‘legibilise’ culture in ways that prioritise performance and experience over the agency of local people. The resulting reformation of cultural practice creates new forms of inequality, here marked by gender and ethnicity.https://journals.openedition.org/poldev/6011genderinequalitytourism industryethnicityironservice sector economy |
| spellingShingle | Ryan Parsons Logics of Extraction and of the Valorisation of Culture: The Role of Post-extraction Investment in the Creation of Inequality in China Revue Internationale de Politique de Développement gender inequality tourism industry ethnicity iron service sector economy |
| title | Logics of Extraction and of the Valorisation of Culture: The Role of Post-extraction Investment in the Creation of Inequality in China |
| title_full | Logics of Extraction and of the Valorisation of Culture: The Role of Post-extraction Investment in the Creation of Inequality in China |
| title_fullStr | Logics of Extraction and of the Valorisation of Culture: The Role of Post-extraction Investment in the Creation of Inequality in China |
| title_full_unstemmed | Logics of Extraction and of the Valorisation of Culture: The Role of Post-extraction Investment in the Creation of Inequality in China |
| title_short | Logics of Extraction and of the Valorisation of Culture: The Role of Post-extraction Investment in the Creation of Inequality in China |
| title_sort | logics of extraction and of the valorisation of culture the role of post extraction investment in the creation of inequality in china |
| topic | gender inequality tourism industry ethnicity iron service sector economy |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/poldev/6011 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ryanparsons logicsofextractionandofthevalorisationofculturetheroleofpostextractioninvestmentinthecreationofinequalityinchina |