International Journal of Business Anthropology

Examining the Role of Cultural Adaptability in Enhancing Livelihood Resilience in Ethnic Rural Tourism Destinations

Qianlang Shang — 2024-12-31

This study explores the key factors influencing household livelihood resilience in ethnic rural tourist areas, specifically focusing on cultural adaptability. An analytical framework and measurement indicators for tourism livelihood resilience are proposed, with empirical analysis carried out in the two Bai minzu villages in Dali, Yunnan, China. Principal component analysis and multiple linear regression models were used to calculate household livelihood resilience and compare different livelihood strategies in two cases. Findings reveal more robust buffer capacity but weaker learning capacity among evaluated dimensions in two cases. Families involved in tourism and other sectors demonstrate superior livelihood resilience compared to those solely reliant on tourism. The findings reveal the significant impact of policy awareness, cultural confidence, and savings status on ethnic village household livelihood resilience. The study also identifies areas for future research, including the need for comparative and evolutionary research on multiple case types and a deeper exploration of the inherent mechanism between external shocks, tourism livelihood resilience, and livelihood strategies.

Why Not Stay: Chapulineras in Oaxaca and Alternatives to Emigration

Jeffrey H. Cohen — 2024-12-31

The pressure to migrate is powerful in Oaxaca, Mexico. Oaxaca’s Central Valleys region saw a rapid, steep rise in emigration to the United States beginning in the 1990s. While the rate has slowed in recent decades, and in response to demographic forces that have impacted the area, there is still a steady flow of migrants moving to destinations within Mexico and to the United States. Yet not everyone chooses to migrate. In this paper, we review the work of chapulineras (market women who produce and sell chapulines, toasted grasshoppers) and note why they stay-put. Chapulineras have created a dynamic economy that is built upon working in the local market systems which generate a great deal of wealth. The successes that the majority of chapulineras welcome means they (and their families) reject migration and build comfortable lives locally. Reviewing the experiences of Oaxaca’s chapulineras and their reticence to migrate contrasts with the expectation that most rural Oaxacans will choose emigration and leave their hometowns in search of opportunities.

The Translation and Acceptance of Spanish Novels in China in the 20th Century

Zhengyi Zhou — 2024-12-31

Spanish literature began to be introduced to China more than a hundred years ago. It has been eclipsed by the English and French literature that has been introduced to China over the centuries. Furthermore, it has been marginalized in the Chinese market, both in terms of the number of volumes published and the influence it exerts on readers. Nevertheless, there is reason to believe that a change is occurring and that there is a growing interest in it, accompanied by the growing interest of Chinese people in Spanish literature and the development of Spanish literature itself. Currently, China is increasingly contacting the world, especially with the Spanish-speaking countries. Since China’s Reform and Open-up, with a more welcoming attitude, the work of translation activity was launched with ease. This paper takes the Spanish novel as a case study, examining the translation and adaptation of these works in mainland China during the twentieth century. It draws on data from the Institute of Cervantes in Peking and Shanghai to analyses the evolution of translation and reception of Spanish novels in China.

Beyond Culture: Design Anthropology as a Tool of Social Design and Conflict-Resolution

Mary Reisel — 2024-12-31

Design Anthropology [DA] has gained significant prominence in recent years, along with increasing adoption of Design Thinking [DT] strategies, new human-centric approaches, and focused attention on the emotional and functional needs of the users. Both DA and DT have emerged during the last few decades as a result of a broader shift away from the profit-centered business models towards the development of value-driven paradigms that are placing the consumers at the center of research and production. This is a meaningful transformation that reflects the recognition of an urgent need for higher global sustainability and a new economy. The process of personalization, which is based on extensive study of consumers’ real needs rather continuous development of products, is the best strategic move to achieve these new global goals and set new social and individual values. Thus, business success in the contemporary world should aspire to merge values of sustainability with a good study of individual needs and lifestyle. DT is not a new way of business thinking and it has existed for decades. Yet, many of its advantages are still unknown, misunderstood, or are being used inefficiently due to lack of knowledge, strategic insights, and proper practices and experience. DT utilizes anthropological methods that provide the best strategies required to unfold hidden needs, heal pain points, and discover core cultural values. Anthropological tools include detailed observations of behavior and various activities, personal interviews, and immersion in the daily lives of individuals and communities studied in order to study their perspective and gain empathy and understanding as an insider. The project presented hereby demonstrates the uses and the professional advantages gained by using DT methods in finding new and creative pathways to complicated solutions in a case study that required the development of a healthcare app for the ASHA workers in India. The ASHA are healthcare activists who became a vital and crucial support system to many families in rural India, especially during the Covid19 pandemic. However, the low social caste to which they belong proved to be as big a challenge to face as the pandemic itself, and DT strategies combined with methodologies of anthropology supported the completion of the project on time with the best outcome possible.

Rural Tourism and Rural Economic Development

Ming Xi — 2024-12-31

Rural tourism is considered an essential tool to promote rural economic development through the integrated development of the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries. Based on a natural village-level panel data set of 39 villages in Lincang City, Yunnan, China from 2015 to 2021, this paper uses the difference-in-differences method with a propensity score matching approach (PSM-DID) to investigate the impact of rural tourism development on rural economic development in villages. The research results show that rural tourism positively affects gross income and poverty reduction in rural areas. However, the results do not show significant evidence of transforming the rural industrial structure. Based on the results, promoting policies for rural tourism should also be implemented in other regions in China, and additional policies should be considered to promote industrial structure transformation.

The Spread and Changes of Tea and Tea Drinking Customs in Minority Areas of North and the Tibetan Plateau in China

Zhiyang Liu — 2024-12-31

There is currently no consensus on when Chinese people began to drink tea. The way people drank tea before the Tang Dynasty was controversial in the tea academic community due to insufficient historical materials. Since the Tang Dynasty, tea drinking became popular in the hinterland. Due to climate and soil condition restrictions, acidic soil areas south of the Qinling Mountains and the Huai River were main tea producing area. Therefore, the ethnic groups in northern frontier areas must obtain tea through trading with inland tea areas. Therefore, tea was introduced into northern minority areas and the Tibetan Plateau relatively late. It was not until the Song Dynasty that there were precise records on tea drinking by northern ethnic minorities, and tea-horse trade became an important form of material exchange between agricultural and nomadic peoples at that time. In addition to well-known tea-horse trade between Song and northwest Tibet, Liao, Jin and other northern kingdoms also exchanged tea with the Song Empire in frontier trade. Tea-horse trade became an important material exchange channel between the Central Plains and nomadic peoples at that time. In the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongols dominated the Central Plains, and coexisted with Han and other ethnic groups, inevitably leading to cultural and customs exchanges and integration. One of the manifestations is that the Mongols who went south of the Great Wall began to drink tea generally and integrated the tea drinking method and customs of the Han people in the Central Plains with their own lifestyle. They added dairies favored by nomadic peoples to tea and gave rise to butter tea or milk tea. After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, the inland Han people no longer drank butter tea, while the Mongols who retreated north of the Great Wall maintained their tea drinking customs.

Perceived Authenticity and Place Attachment among Mountain Tourists: A Case Study Exploration in the Gaoligong Mountain in Southwest China

Yuanyuan Zhao — 2024-12-31

In the context of the embodiment and humanistic turn in tourism research, exploring new pathways for mountain tourism development from the perspective of the relationship between tourists' perceived authenticity (PAY) and place attachment (PAT) is of great significance. This approach aims to strengthen the emotional connection between mountain tourism and target tourist groups, improving the quality of the mountain tourism experience. This study defines the relationship between PAY and PAT among mountain tourists, clarifies their measurement dimensions, and constructs a research model for PAY and PAT in mountain tourism. Taking Gaoligong Mountain as a case study site, it collected 297 valid responses through a questionnaire survey. Seven research hypotheses were tested by the using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results show that: (1) The results of the reliability and validity revealed that the division of PAY are objective authenticity (OA) and existential authenticity (EA), and PAT are place dependence (PD) and place identity (PI), corresponding to the particular scenario of mountain tourists; (2) OA significantly enhances both PD and PI, and PD positively influences PI; (3) Analyses of Mediating Effects reveal that neither OA nor EA affects PI through PD; (4) EA significantly affected PI but not PD. The research results reveal the underlying mechanisms and dynamics between the dimensions of PAY and PAT among mountain tourists. Therefore, this study suggests that local governments and business enterprises should strengthen the emotional connection between mountain tourism and tourists by focusing on five key areas: enhancing PAY, aiming at target segments, promoting PI, understanding tourist needs, and improving policies and planning. These efforts will contribute to the sustainable and high-quality development of mountain tourism.

Ancient Maya Myth, Economy, and Ideology: A Marxist Interpretation of the Hero Twins Saga

Alf H. Walle — 2024-12-31

A close reading of the Popol Vuh (ancient Maya text) provides clues regarding how folk beliefs, legends, and mythology legitimized political relationships by justifying the privilege, wealth, and the dominance of the elite. An interpretation, based on the Marxist social anthropology of Leslie White, uses a folkloristic analysis to explore economic and materialistic influences upon religion and ideology.