International Journal of Business Anthropology
The International Journal of Business Anthropology (IJBA), is a double blinded peer reviewed journal, focusing upon business anthropology supported by the College of Sociology and Anthropology, Sun Yat-Sen University; School of History and Culture, Jishou University; the Institute of Business Anthropology, Shantou University; Center for Social and Economic Behavior Studies, Yunnan University of Finance and Economics, China. Given the rapid growth of business anthropology, a journal dedicated to the field is much needed. Business anthropology uses qualitative and ethnographic methods as an alternative to more formal methodologies. Specific tools include participant observation, informal and structured interviews, and other “naturalistic”, informal, and face-to-face methods of investigation. Business anthropologists play a key role in developing culturally sensitive policies and strategies in a world increasingly typified by cross-cultural contacts.
Rural Urbanization: Theoretical Reflections and Practices in the Pearl River Delta
Based on the concept of rural urbanization, this article reflects on the theories related to rural urbanization. Combining the historical development of rural areas at Chinese and international levels, it argues that rural urbanization is, like elsewhere in the world, an indispensable path for China's rural development. This is mainly based on two problems that China has faced during its development process: first, overcrowding, disruption of market networks, and restrictions on population migration; second, the lack of synchronization between industrialization and urbanization. This article takes the Pearl River Delta as a case study to explore the different stages of rural urbanization there since China's reform and opening-up and proposes questions and directions for further research into rural urbanization in the Pearl River Delta. Research in this area needs to be combined with rural revitalization and Chinese-style modernization in order to conduct more targeted academic research in the future.
Copyright (c) 2025 International Journal of Business Anthropology
Food Chains, Ecosystems and Myths: A Lasting Anthropological Concern
Before the rise of environmental conservation movements in the 1960s, anthropologists had already begun to advocate concepts of ecosystem analysis as the key to understand how humans maintain sustainable interactions with their surroundings. This lasting concern, which crisscrosses temporal, regional, and disciplinary boundaries, led to investigations on how multifaceted cultural mechanisms are developed in this human-environmental feedback loop. For instance, questions can be asked: How have the domestication of plants and animals altered the substance and nutritional levels of our daily life? Or how have the availability and variations in food chains flows regulated the rhythms of social activities? Last but not least, how have folk tales and myths about these cultural mechanisms been incorporated internally to enhance and reinforce group cohesion and legitimize traditional cultures? Looking at these issues in the Chinese cultural context, we may conclude that Shen Nong worship is the counterpart of the holistic concept of ecosystems in anthropology.
Empowerment in Transition: A Study on the Power Dynamics of Settled Pastoralist Women in Inner Mongolia
This study examines the empowerment status of settled pastoralist women in Inner Mongolia during grassland social transformation. Using a mixed-methods approach combining the Women's Empowerment in Livestock Index (WELI) with in-depth interviews, we assess women's empowerment across six key dimensions. Our findings reveal multidimensional, non-homogeneous empowerment patterns: women maintain a high autonomy in domestic domains such as nutrition (81%) and time management (65%), while experiencing limited power over credit access (7%) and land control (20%). This study introduces the concept of "complementary empowerment" to describe this domain-specific power distribution, characterized by domain differentiation, cultural embeddedness, adaptive strategy and contextual relevance. The results indicate that settlement opportunities do not automatically translate into substantive empowerment. Policy interventions should adopt culturally sensitive approaches, address the gap between opportunities and outcomes, and balance workload with decision-making power to promote sustainable development.
Vast Opportunities, Great Benefits: Unlocking the Potential of China-Africa Green Energy Cooperation
The future of green energy cooperation between China and Africa is of profound significance, both for these regions and the entire planet. With climate change emerging as one of the most pressing global challenges, the need for sustainable and renewable energy solutions has never been clearer or more paramount. China and Africa are uniquely positioned to lead the quest for a greener, more sustainable world. Together, they possess the critical resources, technology, human capital, and motivation to transform the global energy landscape positively. Green energy cooperation has the potential not only to benefit both China and Africa but also to serve as a viable model of international collaboration. Guided by a multipronged approach and an array of rich data, this paper highlights factors making China and Africa ideal green energy partners, including their complementary strengths, shared interest in sustainable development, and long history of fruitful cooperation and multifaceted engagement, along with rapidly evolving global geopolitical dynamics and the promise of an array of mutual benefits. In addition, the paper identifies and discusses key pathways through which China-Africa green energy cooperation can thrive, ranging from investment in renewable energy infrastructure, the development of regional energy grids, and joint research and innovation initiatives to technology transfer and green financing, among others. Importantly, the paper also outlines several potential challenges to China-Africa green energy cooperation, thus providing a more comprehensive and pragmatic assessment of the path forward.
Dual Interaction of Interest and Norm in Transcultural Communication: A Case Study of KH Agricultural Company’s Everyday Operations in Nkoranza, Ghana
For the past two decades, more and more Chinese companies have been investing in Africa and operating in local communities, and it is inevitable for them to interact with internal and external entities on different levels in their daily operations, which contain both business activities and everyday life. Taking a Chinese agricultural company that promotes caster-oil plant in Ghana as an example, this paper depicts and explains its interaction with Ghanaian employees, community residents and local authority from both the “interest” and “norm” interaction. However, insufficient trust, emotional incoordination and unequal power relationship in everyday life left the company in an extremely unstable state. Under the impact of some accidental events, contradiction escalated step by step, ultimately causing the company to withdraw itself from Ghana. This also provides a warning for other Chinese enterprises operating overseas, especially those deeply involved in local communities, because they need to deal with the “interest-norm ” interaction in their business activities and achieve mutual understanding in everyday life at the same time.
The Ties That Bind: Identity, Emotion, and Everyday Work in Chinese Agricultural Aid—A Case Study of the China-Aided Agricultural Technology Demonstration Center in East Africa
This paper explores the emotional and interpersonal dimensions of China’s agricultural aid by an ethnographic case study of a Chinese Agricultural Technology Demonstration Center in Country W, East Africa. Moving beyond macro-level analyses of foreign aid effectiveness, it focuses on the live experiences of Chinese agricultural experts and their daily interactions with the local staff. Through intensive fieldwork, the study reveals how aid implementation is shaped not only by institutional arrangements and technical tasks but also by emotional labor, identity transformation, and cross-cultural negotiation. The narrative highlights tensions, misunderstandings, and emotional adjustments required on both sides, especially between Chinese managers and local workers such as drivers and coordinators, as they navigate through shared responsibilities and divergent expectations. These micro-level dynamics often determine the success or failure of aid projects on the ground. The study ultimately argues for a more people-centered understanding of foreign aid, one that recognizes the importance of affective relationships, informal roles, and emotional resilience in the sustainability of international cooperation.
War Literature and Collective Memory: The Other’s Perspective in Anthropology
Collective memory has long been a central concern in disciplines such as sociology, anthropology, and psychology. Since Maurice Halbwachs first proposed the concept of collective memory, the boundaries of this research field have continually expanded. Its theories have been cross-culturally tested and increasingly integrated across disciplines. Among them, the intersection of literature and anthropology has garnered particular attention. This article explores the construction of collective memory within war literature. Focusing on the role of historical memory, it examines how memory shapes culture and identity through the lens of anthropology. Using war narratives as a point of entry, the study highlights the constructive nature of memory and its sociocultural implications for identity formation.
Chinese Immigrant Workers in Australia: From Segregation to Integration
The historical record of Chinese immigration to Australia began with the Daoyi Zhilüe (A Brief Record of Exotic Isles) by Wang Dayuan, a famous Chinese navigator in the Yuan Dynasty. Archaeological artifacts such as the Jade Shouxing Statue prove that there is a close connection between the culture of Yi ethnic group in southeastern China and the ancient cultures in Oceania. Under the influence of Australia's various immigration policies, the population and communities of Chinese society have undergone many complex changes, with key characteristics in the Chinese community through the various stages of changes. A large-scale immigration of Chinese into Australia began with the Chinese laborers in the mid-19th century. The Australian gold rush in the 1850s brought a large number of Chinese to Australia, and they integrated well with the white immigrants. The "White Australia Policy" from the mid-19th century to the mid-20th century led to a significant decline in the population of Chinese immigrants to Australia. After the abolition of the "White Australia Policy" and changes in Australia's immigration policy, combined with China's reform and opening up, Chinese immigration to Australia has set off a new upsurge, and the Chinese have integrated into Australia to become the third largest ethnic group.
From “Cold Resource” to “Hot Industry”: A “Structure-Function” Analysis of the Formation of Ice and Snow Industry
The study is based on the overarching paradigm of "resource-culture-industry" and utilizes the ice and snow industry in Harbin as a case study. The objective is to analyze the structural and functional transformations of ice and snow respectively as a resource, culture, and industry. This is achieved by examining the interrelationship between and transition among these dimensions to demonstrate the entire dynamic process from "cold resource" to "hot industry". The study examines the development of ice and snow culture, characterized by regional distinctiveness, which emerges from the early stage of resource utilization. As a form of structural heritage, this culture not only can guide resource allocation but also plays a dynamic role in shaping the local economy. Moreover, the industrialization of cultural heritage facilitates the transmission of exemplary traditional cultural practices while promoting the industrial transformation of the ice and snow sector and fostering a growth of related industries. This research posits that by prioritizing ice and snow cultural heritage, it is possible to cultivate competitive endogenous advantages, thereby infusing new vitality into the sustainable development of the local economy.
The Construction and Development of Cultural Heritage in Cultural Tourism Performances: Perspectives of Neo-classical “Structural Functionalism”
This paper applies the Neo-classical “Structural Functionalism” to study the mutual construction relationship between cultural heritage and cultural-tourism performance during the integration and development process of culture and tourism. The relationship mainly presents two forms: “macro-structure” and “micro-structure”. The term “macro-structures” refers to the original forms of scenic sites and tourist destinations within the cultural tourism framework, while “micro-structures” denote the embedded structural relationships—such as coexistence, opposition, and interconnection—within these macro-structures, as well as the differentiated relational configurations across various sub-genres of performance. There are three main types of “micro-structures”, namely Landscape-base Live Performances, Immersive Scenario Performances, and Carnival-style Theme Park Performances. The inheritance of cultural heritage within these structures primarily satisfies the three experiential functions: traditional way of viewing, immersive viewing, and consumption while playing. Therefore, the mutual construction between cultural heritage and cultural-tourism performances stems from a dialectical composition that is both “unified” and “diverse”, emerging from shared aesthetic empathy of the era. The core principles of constructing this mutual construction relationship are unified dramatic form, differentiated composition, cultural deconstruction, and modern expression.
Neo-classical “Structural Functionalism”
A Study on the Sustainable Development Strategy for Cultural Brands from the Perspective of All Media
The era of all media, as a new cognitive background connecting together everything, provides a new perspective for the operation and communication of cultural brands. Taking the connection between all media and cultural brands as the entry point, this paper discusses how to operate cultural brands in a reasonable and efficient manner. On the one hand, the task is on the construction and communication of cultural brands themselves, focusing on the cultural connotations of their brands and the integration of their marketing with multimedia resources; on the other hand, the operation strategy needs to be further improved, such as the innovation of operation concept, balance of brand layout and creation of brand differentiation advantages. In the context of the era of all-media integration, cultural brands create a more comprehensive and three-dimensional communication mode in a more diversified form. Choosing cross-media and multimedia for brand planning and operation is an inevitable choice.
Copyright (c) 2024 International Journal of Business Anthropology
Limited McDonaldization as a Success Recipe: An Ethnographic Study of Yili Driving School in Jinan, China
Current corporate culture studies mainly emphasize the management and motivation of employees within an enterprise, while little consideration is taken of the interaction between the enterprise, employees and customers. Based on an ethnographic study of Yili Driving School in Jinan, this article explores the success recipe of service-oriented enterprises. It argues that the success of the driving school can be attributed to its corporate culture of limited McDonaldization, consisting of two contradictory but coexisting models, i.e. a rationalized and standardized management model and a relational and emotional work model, in which corporate management, employees and consumers are all involved. So far as the driving school is concerned, the school administrators, coaches and students selectively use cultural resources to adopt different action strategies which enable the participants of the corporate culture to achieve a win-win situation. This study highlights not only the McDonaldized management of the enterprise, but also the mechanism of emotional cultivation between the driving school, instructors and trainees. The result of this study is hoped to contribute to research on corporate culture and enterprise anthropology by breaking with the previous approaches from within the company.
Writing of Business Ethnography: Reflections on Fieldwork and Theory
The writing of business ethnography has expanded from the study of small social units such as factories to the discussion of transnational markets, transnational business networks and global finance in under the context of globalization. A holistic anthropological perspective and use of ethnography research have played important roles in the development of business anthropology. The research tradition and orientation of anthropology not only determine research perspectives and approaches in business ethnography, they also influence the theoretical construction of business anthropology. The study of business ethnography in China provides not only local interpretations of the theory and practice of business anthropology, but also opportunities to reflect on the use of ethnography for such studies.
Understanding the Guanxi Culture in Chinese Art Market: Okada Kosho and Shanghai Art World in the Late-nineteenth Century
Shanghai art market had developed a strong international trade system since China was forced to have her gate ajar in the late-nineteenth century. In 1873, a Nagasaki doctor Okada Kosho (1821-1903) travelled to Shanghai and Suzhou. Thanks to the development of stochastic models for the analysis of social networks in contemporary statistics, the structure of Okada’s guanxi (social connections) in Shanghai and Suzhou in the late nineteenth century can be represented by the model, which illustrated that Okada was connected with a few “bridges”, including the Japanese artist Yasuda Rozan, Japanese Consulate Shinagawa Tadamichi, an official dispatched at the end of 1860s to Shanghai, Kumashiro Encho, and the prominent art collector of the Guoyun Chamber, and Gu Cheng, all of whom helped Okada Kosho to explore the Shanghai and Suzhou art world. Through the bridging ties spanned by these individuals, Okada interacted closely with a particular cluster of Chinese artists, art collectors and art dealers. This proved that the Chinese art community heavily relied on social connections of the “bridges” in advertising itself and spreading its reputation. This paper first outlines the Shanghai art market in the late nineteenth century based on Okada Kosho’ s Diaries of Shanghai and Suzhou (1890). It then argues for the opportunity and limitation of building guanxi in the context of the Chinese art market. Finally, it suggests research approaches based on viewing the late-nineteenth-century Shanghai art market in this new way.
Development Logic From Regional Cuisine to Global Fast Food — A Case Study of Lanzhou Beef Noodles
Lanzhou Beef Noodles is a distinctive regional food in and around Lanzhou, China. With the development of the society, Lanzhou Beef Noodles has become a shared culinary cultural element among people across many parts of China and even expanding globally. The phenomenon of “Lanzhou Beef Noodles” evolving into “Lanzhou Ramen” and spreading throughout the streets worldwide highlights the combined significance of this food and its business. This combination has led to the dual expansion of the economic significance of cuisine and the social significance of business. Using ethnographic research methods based on anthropology and incorporating anthropological theories of business, this paper argues that adhering to traditional culinary standards constitutes a core competitiveness and value advantage of Lanzhou Beef Noodles. A rational operation of capital plays a crucial social role in the process of business inheritance and transformation. The joint efforts of the government and the private sector, along with an adaptive business model, have transformed Lanzhou Beef Noodles from a culinary cultural resource into a cultural capital. This transition is the developmental logic behind the widespread success of Lanzhou Beef Noodles, making it a culinary delight locally, nationally and globally.
The “Umbrella Society” and the Emergence and Development of Modern Enterprises During the Self-Strengthening Movement in China
The “umbrella society” is a main feature of the Chinese social structure. The “umbrella” protection that government offers business operators is not only a major social relationship but also an important means of resource allocation in China. During the Self-Strengthening Movement, the “paternal”, “kinship” and “friendship” relationships between the government and enterprises promoted the emergence of state-owned enterprises, government-supervised commercial enterprises and commercial enterprises, respectively, as modern enterprises. Simultaneously, different resource allocations facilitated their development. However, due to the ambiguities in the umbrella services provided by the government to enterprises, the Chinese efforts to establish modern enterprises during the Self-Strengthening Movement were far from successful.
Smart Port Construction on the China-Vietnam Border and Smooth Cross-Border Trade: The Case of Dongxing
As the construction of e-commerce platforms and communication tools based on the internet has gradually matured, online transactions and smart customs clearance have emerged as new trends in cross-border trade and port construction. This paper takes the Dongxing Port in Guangxi Province, China, as an example, and analyzes the intelligentization of trade clearance, transactions, settlement and some other aspects including cross-border exchange, recognizing smart port construction as a new development model. It conforms to the current characteristics and the actual needs of borderland residents. On the one hand, it can improve the construction of the border exchange network, stimulate the economic expansion and elasticity of the port regions and promote smooth cross-border trade. On the other, it serves as a powerful means of encouraging the interconnection and mutual benefit of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) member states.
Examining the Role of Cultural Adaptability in Enhancing Livelihood Resilience in Ethnic Rural Tourism Destinations
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.
influencing factors on tourism livelihood resilience
Reinventing Anthropological Dimensions for HR Progression: Conceptualizing a Measurement Scale
The unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic ruined the business hemisphere across the globe and thus organizations are on the pathway to restore people, planet and profit. At this intermittent phase, the relevance of anthropological dimensions at work sphere for building an agile and resilient organization that can sustain in both normal and crisis times is quite realistic and pertinent in present environment. The essential objective of the present paper is to identify the prominent domains and related items that may be considered in redesigning work-place anthropological dimensions and to set up structured scale in tune with anthropological traits. The main source of conceptualizing the research scale is formulated from the detailed literature survey involving essential considerations of the paper viz. character strength, human psychological behavior, behavioral implication on business education, mind purification, culture, personality & values. From the literature explicated in the paper, a clear attempt has been made to identify five broad domains and the items considered for the study. The five broad domains identified are Doman A: Character strength, Domain B: Human psychological behavior, Domain C: Behavioral implication on business educations, Domain D: Mind purification on human behavior, Domain E: Ethical dimensions on human behavior. A structured scale in the clear nomenclature of “CPBME” scale has been developed with the potential for future scope of the study. “CPBME” scale implies C-Character, P-Psychology, B-Behavior, M-Mind, and E-Ethics. The study makes a modest attempt to uphold the potential of human anthropological avenues as a revitalizing HR element in the digitalized business hemisphere.
Why Not Stay: Chapulineras in Oaxaca and Alternatives to Emigration
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.
“Golden Corner and Silver Edge” and the Construction of the Chinese Overland “Frontier Economic Belt”
In the context of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the opening-up of its frontier areas, China possesses regional advantages known as the “golden corner and silver edge”. Local governments at all levels should leverage their geographical and resource strengths, while the country as a whole can systematically and proactively plan the development of an overland frontier economic belt. The formation of a “One Belt” along China’s overland frontier regions as well as the establishment of a “One Belt, Multiple Points” pearl chain comprising towns at the frontier-road intersection, highlights great potentials for frontier development and embodies China’s bigger strategy of constructing a “frontier economic belt”.
Copyright (c) 2023 International Journal of Business Anthropology
How Does Consumers’ Self-Control Predict Financial Behavior and Financial Resilience?
This paper examines the association between self-control and consumer financial resilience. Applying Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) on data sourced from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), our study shows that along with the demonstrated direct relationship between self-control and consumer financial resilience, the benefit of financial practice through daily management plays a key mediating role, positively impacting consumer financial resilience. Leveraging the economic theory of the Behavioral Life-cycle (BLC) Hypothesis, our results suggest that the benefits of self-control on financial resilience largely depend on the cultivation of positive financial actions, which are reinforced through active financial management.
Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM)
Turning Waste into Means: Human Hair Business in a West Bengal Village
The present study is a part of an ongoing research conducted on human hair business at a rural-level entrepreneurship run by the people living in Lohabarh village under Bhagwanpur-1 Block in Purba Medinipur district of West Bengal, India. This business is also found in many other villages of this administrative block. It deals with the fallen hair tangles which serve as the main raw materials collected from different rural and urban areas of West Bengal. The products like hair wigs or hair extensions are sold in national and international markets through local and foreign traders or through online platforms. Therefore, a large network of business organizations is involved in the whole process. The study aims to know the process of turning the waste into reusable product along with the exploration of the nature of business organization and to understand the networks connected to international market from such a rural-level entrepreneurship so that the local and global interaction is realized in this context. The study reveals how people do this work at the village level and how it is circulated outside the village. It has enquired about the people involved and the extent of dividends contributing to their economic prosperity. It is revealed that a group of economically backward people had an occupational shift to this work, and it helped them to uplift their economic conditions considerably.
Role of Brick Tea Trade in the Formation of the Unitary Multi-Ethnic Country of China
In the Chinese history, no commodity has had a greater impact upon both China and the world other than tea. In the formation of the unitary multi-ethnic country of China, the brick tea trade ran through every stage of the country’s history since the Tang and Song Dynasties as a commercial activity through which the Central Plains dynasties exchanged tea from the Han regions for horses and other commodities from nomads in the northern grasslands and Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Throughout the trick tea trade that continued for one thousand years, all ethnic groups were involved, consciously or passively, in the production, processing, transport and marketing of the tea, and collaborated in all trading chains and links, thus creating the largest trading activity in the history of China or even the world and exerting a significant influence on the formation of the unitary multi-ethnic country of China as a result.