Achievement

Trainee Kiersten Warning is studying how changes in physical, social, political, and economic landscapes shape and are constructed by cultural shifts as traditional economic production meets new livelihood strategies in Mosuo society. In 7 months of fieldwork she surveyed land use/land cover change in Yongning Basin and around Lugu Lake, conducted participant observation in homestays, interviewed residents in 23 villages, and collaborated with 10 in-country scholars. Preliminary results suggest creative labor configurations that allow 95% of Mosuo people to continue farming even though a growing number leave the area. 20 years of tourism has brought unprecedented wealth that complements state initiatives to improve the built environment. The influence of Han cultures via tourists is profound now in Mosuo villages, prompting a possible revitalization of Mosuo religions in order to maintain traditional, longstanding gender parity and power throughout Mosuo culture.