Going Global: Livelihoods and Globalization in the Niti Valley, Garhwal Himalaya, India

Abstract

This paper explores the way in which the tribal Bhotia people of the Niti Valley have operated within and across scale and constructed scale in order to adapt to livelihood changes brought about by globalization. A series of events beginning with the closure of the border between India and Tibet have affected the Bhotia in various ways, creating boom and bust cycles in the local economy and opening up their lives to the forces of globalization and modernization. These events all illustrate the global-local continuum at work within the NDBR. The Bhotia have had to adapt their livelihood activities to the changes that globalization has brought to their location. On the other hand, the Bhotia have also seen that the continuum between the global and local is not a one-way street and that they must not only react to global events that change local livelihood activities but also must portray their local struggle as one of global importance in order to combat marginalization. Within this context, scale and the politics of scale play an integral role in how the Bhotia of the Niti Valley have engaged global discourses in their effort to maintain viable livelihood options.