The village bank of a Lisu community: Indigenous belief, economic practices, and environmental conservation in Southwest China

Abstract

Using the rotating credit association created by a Lisu village, called the “village bank,” this study explores the social forces that have shaped, limited, or activated the ethnic community’s local environmental agency in southwest China. We argue that while the inherited elements of the Lisu indigenous beliefs could help local communities meet the ecological needs of our time, offering different ethics and perspectives to challenge the pursuit of material abundance based on extractive economic modes, the Lisu’s social and economic behavior is not solely determined by their religious beliefs. In the post-Mao economic reform era, village banks have become a fresh way through which Lisu villages activated their environmental agency, trying to achieve a balance between environmental protection and poverty reduction. Lisu’s “ambivalent” stance on environmental protection reflects the interactions between state-orchestrated development, NGOs, and the tension between maintaining tradition and reducing poverty.