The art of (not) being governed: Village governance and tourism development in a Miao village in China

Abstract

This article illuminates a nuanced interaction between the ethnic minorities in Southwest China and the state, centering on tourism development. Through an ethnographic case study of Upper Langde Miao village, this article documents the transformation from the village’s self-governed to county-government-directed tourism and explores under what conditions it loses out to the statecraft. It explains the seemingly radical changes from the villagers’ avoidance of the state to their recent desire, despite distrust, for a just state to deliver economic benefits. This is more a situational adoption of a development paradigm of the state than a subjective identification with the state-nation.