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Reflections on Cooperative Experiences in Rural Yunnan: 1942 – 2010

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Reflections on Cooperative Experiences in Rural Yunnan: 1942 – 2010 Reflections on Cooperative Experiences in Rural Yunnan: 1942 – 2010 by Margaret A. (Sandra) Sachs M.A. (Philosophy), University of Waterloo, 1968 B.A., University of Western Ontario, 1964 Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the School of Communication Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology Margaret A. (Sandra) Sachs SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Summer 2012 All rights reserved. However, in accordance with the Copyright Act of Canada, this work may be reproduced, without authorization, under the conditions for “Fair Dealing.” Therefore, limited reproduction of this work for the purposes of private study, research, criticism, review and news reporting is likely to be in accordance with the law, particularly if cited appropriately. Approval Name: Margaret A. (Sandra) Sachs Degree: Doctor of Philosophy (Communication) Title of Thesis: Reflections on Cooperative Experiences in Rural Yunnan: 1942 – 2010 Examining Committee: Chair: Shane Gunster, Associate Professor Bob Anderson Senior Supervisor Professor Pat Howard Supervisor Professor Yuezhi Zhao Supervisor Professor Jan Walls Internal Examiner Professor Emeritus, Department of Humanities Christina Gilmartin External Examiner Associate Professor, History, Northeastern University Date Defended: July 19, 2012 ii Partial Copyright Licence iii Ethics Statement The author, whose name appears on the title page of this work, has obtained, for the research described in this work, either: a. human research ethics approval from the Simon Fraser University Office of Research Ethics, or b. advance approval of the animal care protocol from the University Animal Care Committee of Simon Fraser University; or has conducted the research c. as a co-investigator, collaborator or research assistant in a research project approved in advance, or d. as a member of a course approved in advance for minimal risk human research, by the Office of Research Ethics. A copy of the approval letter has been filed at the Theses Office of the University Library at the time of submission of this thesis or project. The original application for approval and letter of approval are filed with the relevant offices. Inquiries may be directed to those authorities. Simon Fraser University Library Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada update Spring 2010 Abstract The thesis has a double focus: on the one hand, it deals with instances of cooperative economic development in Lijiang Naxi Autonomous County, Yunnan, China, covering three time periods between 1942 and 2010; on the other, it contextualizes these studies’ central conceptual thread – the presence or absence of participatory decision-making - through a more general consideration of the relationship between leadership and led in China. Workers’ cooperatives are by their very nature democratic institutions, based on the principles of worker self-management and ‘one man, one vote’. It is instructive to look at the reality of their practice in a Chinese context, so I examine theoretical approaches to governance relationships arising out of the Chinese experience and studies that consider strategies arising from actual situations. The thesis is quintessentially about a kind of communication mediated by the intervention of cultural, language and ethnicity differences and centering crucially on varying perceptions of ‘cooperation’, ‘cooperatives’, and ‘participation’. The studies first examine the cooperative experience of Lijiang County in the early 1940s, when Chinese Gung Ho industrial cooperatives developed nationwide and in Lijiang in response to the dislocation of the Anti-Japanese war. In Lijiang, I argue, the remarkable qualities of Peter Goullart, Lijiang Gung Ho Depot Master, helped to ensure relative success. In the 1990s, the thesis is concerned with the Simon Fraser University (SFU)/Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences (YASS) ‘Cooperative Development (Yunnan, China)’ project intended, if possible, to assist with poverty alleviation in Lijiang County through establishing a new generation of small cooperatives. A secondary emphasis through these sections of the thesis is placed on the role of Lijiang people’s memories of Gung Ho in sustaining an interest in cooperatives; collaborative research between SFU, YASS, and Lijiang partners; and the important role of strong Naxi cooperative traditions. The third study, bringing Lijiang cooperatives into a new era, is of the Yuhu Ecotourism Cooperative. iv I conclude that cooperatives in the three historic periods show different forms and degrees of participation, and that the relationship between leadership and led in China is one of extraordinary diversity and complexity, dynamic, interactive and multi-layered. Keywords: communication; rural Yunnan, China; 1940s Gung Ho cooperatives; cooperative economic development; poverty alleviation; participatory management v Dedication To my family; To Pat and Roger Howard of Simon Fraser University (SFU) and their counterparts at the Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences (YASS) without whose vision, perseverance and sheer hard work the ‘Cooperative Development (Yunnan, China)’ project would not have come into being and existed for seven fruitful years; To the members of the Chinese and Canadian research teams, and to all project participants in China and in Canada. vi Acknowledgements I wish to express profound thanks to my senior supervisor, Bob Anderson, and supervisors Pat Howard and Zhao Yuezhi. Thanking the members of one’s dissertation committee may be usual, but existing for one’s committee largely as a signature at the end of e-mail messages from far away is probably not. Their efforts on my behalf have been well beyond the ordinary, as is my gratitude. In particular, I have benefited greatly from Bob Anderson’s unfailing encouragement, critical wisdom, and careful, meticulous guidance. I wish to acknowledge with deep appreciation, and in memoriam, the substantial contribution to this dissertation made by Christina Gilmartin in her role as external examiner; equally, I thank internal examiner Jan Walls for his insightful and knowledgable suggestions. I would also like to thank other members of the School of Communication and the wider university community, the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Singapore Office, and friends in China and in Canada for their kind support. I have been fortunate in living in a truly interesting place through significant times. As it is customary to say here, I believe China has a ‘bright future.’ To me, that entails real progress toward the ideals that are the concern of this dissertation. vii Table of Contents Approval .......................................................................................................................................... ii Partial Copyright Licence ............................................................................................................... iii Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... iv Dedication ....................................................................................................................................... vi Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... vii Table of Contents ......................................................................................................................... viii List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. xiv List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... xiv Glossary: Hanyu Pinyin with Chinese Character Equivalents ....................................................... xv Chapter 1. Introduction and Methodology ............................................... 1 Themes and Argument ..................................................................................................................... 1 Communication ...................................................................................................................... 1 Cooperation ............................................................................................................................ 2 Central Theme: Participation .................................................................................................. 2 Participation Conceived Using a Leadership: Led Model ...................................................... 3 The Complexity of the Model: Four Frameworks .................................................................. 5 Memory .................................................................................................................................. 7 Lijiang and the Naxi ............................................................................................................... 9 Outline of the Chapters ................................................................................................................... 10 Methodology .................................................................................................................................. 11 The Studies ........................................................................................................................... 12 Self-Presentation ........................................................................................................
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