NOTE TO USERS This reproduction is the best copy available. UMI' Enspirited Places, Material Traces: The Sanctified and the Sacrificed in Modernizing Bhutan by Elizabeth Aileen Allison B.A. (Williams College) 1991 M.A. (Yale University) 2003 M. Env. (Yale University) 2003 A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Science, Policy and Management in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Louise P. Fortmann, Chair Professor Carolyn Merchant Professor Richard Norgaard Professor Mary Evelyn Tucker Fall 2009 UMI Number: 3410799 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMT Dissertation Publishing UMI 3410799 Copyright 2010 by ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This edition of the work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. uestA ® ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Enspirited Places, Material Traces: The Sanctified and the Sacrificed in Modernizing Bhutan copyright 2009 by Elizabeth Aileen Allison Abstract Enspirited Places, Material Traces: The Sanctified and the Sacrificed in Modernizing Bhutan By Elizabeth Aileen Allison Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Science, Policy and Management University of California, Berkeley Professor Louise Fortmann, Chair In this dissertation, I argue that a politicized study of religion and ecology, drawing on the political ecology approach, and incorporating religion and spirituality as potential analytical variables, in the analysis of environmental dilemmas, is necessary. I illustrate my claim with case studies from the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan, in which I demonstrate the myriad ways in which religion and spirituality have material ecological effects in Bhutan and the Himalaya, through taboos that mediate human-environment relations, with regard to both forests and waste issues. Religious and spiritual beliefs therefore leave material traces on areas that are protected and areas that are polluted. Through this analysis of the role of sacred 1 natural sites in village life in Bhutan and around the world, I demonstrate a perspective that values the agency of non-human nature and landscape. Drawing on theoretical perspectives on pollution and waste, and Tibetan cultural perceptions of space, purity and pollution, I show how ritual and material pollution are related in traditional Tibetan concepts of space. At the state level, I demonstrate how Bhutan's waste crisis is not only a material crisis, related to increasingly uncontrolled and unmanaged refuse, but also a spiritual and political crisis of territorialization. I argue that 'green' and 'brown' environmental issues, and rural and urban issues, are inseparable in Bhutan. I conclude that indigenous and traditional spirituality, such as the deity beliefs of rural Bhutan, is one form of (everyday) resistance (Scott 1987) against the simplifying activities of the state such as functional territorialization (Vandergeest and Peluso 1995a). 2 Table of Contents Abstract 1 Table of Contents i List of Figures iv List of Tables vi List of Abbreviations vii Glossary of Bhutanese Terms ix A note on Tibetan and Dzongkha language and spelling xiii Acknowledgements xvi INTRODUCTION Ritual Protection, Ritual Pollution xxii Chapter 1 Politics, Religion, Ecology and Bhutan 1 Outline of the Chapters 12 About Bhutan 16 A Brief History of Bhutan 21 Bhutan's natural environment 28 Tourism in Bhutan 30 Cultural preservation and gross national happiness 31 Methodology 36 Summary of the sacred natural sites study 40 Summary of the waste management study 41 Chronology offieldwork in Bhutan, and challenges along the way 49 Data analysis 53 Social location and political realities 54 Chapter 2 A Place In The World: Ecological And Spiritual Relations 58 Introduction 58 Signposts pointing the way: moral economy to moral geography 60 Political ecology 65 The emergence of political ecology 67 The discursive turn in political ecology 72 Challenging binaries to gain more complete knowledge 83 Reconnecting the city and the country in political ecology 89 Political Ecology and South Asia 90 Religion and local land use in India 92 Spiritual issues in natural resource management 97 The natural environment in religious traditions 101 I Religion and Ecology 108 The field and the force 108 Religious worldviews as a cause of environmental degradation 113 Two ways to ecologize religions: retrieve and reinterpret, or begin anew? 120 Critiques of white's perspective 131 Moving toward a more inclusive ecological ethic 134 Buddhism and ecology 139 Conclusion 146 Chapter 3 Sacred Natural Sites: Places Of Resistance And Resilience 148 Sacred natural sites around the world. 151 Sacred places in the Tibetan Buddhist Himalaya 169 Types of sacred natural sites 179 Sacred natural sites in Bhutan 193 Deity beliefs and environmental conservation 207 Conclusion 214 INTERLUDE 1 Of Holy Sites And Garbage Dumps 216 Chapter 4 Enspirited Places, Material Traces 219 Introduction 219 Ecologically-Protective Spiritual Beliefs in South Asia 223 Bhutan 225 Nepal 226 From Agrarian Landscapes to Urban Environments 227 Theoretical and cross-cultural perspectives on waste and pollution 229 Protected space as proximate to the sacred center 244 Cleaning up for the centenary and coronation 247 Conclusion 264 INTERLUDE 2 Returning to an Increasingly Trashed Bhutan 266 Chapter 5 Of Purity And Pollution 272 Introduction 272 Mental models and habitual actions 274 Knowledge of the Waste Stream, before 2007- 2008 279 History of Waste Management in Bhutan 285 Urban areas and waste management 287 An NGO works to create a public private partnership 290 Efforts toward municipal composting 291 Toward a national characterization of the solid waste stream 294 ii Waste in Rural Areas 297 Waste disposal: into the garbage pit or over the cliff? 299 Waste materials 305 Waste culprits 327 The liminal nature of pigs 335 Conclusion 342 Chapter 6 Politicized Studies of Religion and Ecology 346 Envisioning a Place in the World 346 An approach to politicized religion and ecology studies 350 Enspirited places, material traces 351 The ecological crises as a moral crisis 355 Spirituality as a font of resistance to state control and simplification 357 APPENDIX A Examples of Reuse 387 APPENDIX B Forest and Deity Study Interview Questions 388 Background 388 Village economy 388 Prohibited places in the forest 388 Deities 390 Prohibited times 390 Questions for Religious Leaders 391 APPENDIX C Household Waste Management Study Interview Questions 393 Background 393 Waste management 393 Perceptions of surrounding environment 397 Migration 399 in List of Figures Figure 1-1: South Asia and the Himalayas 18 Figure 1-2: Map of Bhutan, from Google Maps 26 Figure 3-1: The historic Tibetan cultural sphere 170 Figure 3-2: Villagers paraded a statue of Guru Rimpoche through a tschechu, an annual religious festival. Trashigang, eastern Bhutan 172 Figure 3-3: Chorten Kora, Trashi Yangtse, eastern Bhutan was built, according to local legend, after Guru Rimpoche suppressed demons in the Bumdeling valley, just north of the chorten's location 177 Figure 3-4: Lu khang near agricultural fields in Trashigang 179 Figure 3-5: Taktsang, or Tiger's Nest, Monastery, where Guru Rimpoche meditated in Paro 183 Figure 3-6: Image of a Tsen at Chorten Kora, Trashiyangtse 197 Figure 3-7: Image of Geyphu Draktsan Chesum, tsen of Trashiyangtse 197 Figure 3-8: Trail to tsen worship site in Zhemgang 198 Figure 3-9: Painting of lu at Dechen Phodrang Monastic School, Thimphu 200 Figure 3-10: Lu khang, holding the above painting of the lu, at Dechen Phodrang Monastic School, Thimphu 201 Figure 3-11: Lu khang in Trashigang dzongkhag 201 Figure 4-1: Clock Tower Square, central Thimphu 251 Figure 4-2: Paddy field destroyed by wild boars in Tongzhang, Trashiyangtse 257 Figure 4-3: The View from the Airport 268 Figure 5-1: Thimphu Valley. Note the creep of urban development, in pinkish tones, up the sides of the valley on the right side of the photo 273 Figure 5-2: Household waste behind a home in one of the nicer areas of Thimphu. Feb. 2008 286 Figure 5-3: A rare compost bin at Thimphu home 294 Figure 5-4: Open Garbage Burning in Thimphu, August 2008 298 Figure 5-5: Garbage Pit in Tongzhang Geog, Trashiyangtse 303 Figure 5-6: Two-section, fenced garbage pit at BHU in Tradijung, Zhemgang 303 Figure 5-7: Disposal of Kitchen Waste (n=73) 306 Figure 5-8: Disposal of Plastic (n=73) 309 Figure 5-9: Disposal of broken bottles (n=73) 311 Figure 5-10: Bottles awaiting collection in Zhemgang 311 Figure 5-11: Disposal of Old Clothes (n=73) 312 Figure 5-12: A large number of discarded shoes were found at the Haa garbage clean­ up, March 2008 313 Figure 5-13: Disposal of Batteries (n=73) 317 Figure 5-14: Traditional, non-electrified kitchen in Zhemgang, with wooden plank floor 318 Figure 5-15: Disposal of Tube Lights and Light Bulbs (n=73) 320 Figure 5-16: Disposal of Broken Household Appliances (n=73) 321 IV Figure 5-17: Types of toilets in use in rural areas (n=73) 322 Figure 5-18: Satisfaction with toilet (n=73) 323 Figure 5-19: Difficulties with Pit Toilets (n=73) 324 Figure 5-20: Perceptions of Village Cleanups (n=73) 327 Figure 5-21: Who Litters? (n=73) 328 Figure 5-22: Dog huddled in garbage in Thimphu 331 Figure 5-23: One family I stayed with in Zhemgang kept pigs 337 v List of Tables Table 1-1: Changes in Socio-economic Indicators 24 Table 1-2: Ages of Interview Respondents 46 Table 1-3: Gender of Key Informants and Survey Interview Respondents 47 Table 1-4: Locations of Interviews 49 Table 1-5: Chronology of Research 52 Table 5-l:Municipal Solid Waste Estimates (in metric tons/day) 282 Table 5-2: Largest towns in Bhutan, with urban growth rate and calculated projections.