Title: Mango Planting: State, Market and Wealth

Speaker: Hou Jing Rong (Honorary Research Associate, Department of Anthropology, CUHK)

Date: Friday, 20 September 2024

Time: 12:30 pm – 2:00 pm

Mode: In-person

Venue: Room 114, Humanities Building, New Asia College, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Abstract:

The fieldwork was conducted non-continuously in the city of Bose of Guangxi, China from July 2022 to July 2024. In the countryside of South China, crop plantation has gone through great changes. Bose, in the west of Guangxi has witnessed the reduction of rice cultivation and rise of mango planting. It has been about 40 years since they started to grow mango. How the peasants and farmers participate in mango planting and the cultivation process illustrate the story of how they pursue wealth to live a better life. At the same time, the market and the consumer society has also changed the passage of mango cultivars. The research tries to look at different parties involved in the process to see how they are organized and the role market plays.

Bio:

Brief introduction of Hou Jing Rong:

PhD  in  Anthropology  from  CUHK,  with  about  8  years  of  experience  in  applied anthropology, particularly applied anthropology in business, back to the academic about 5 years ago. Publications include: 《交融的變奏：六甲人的觀察報告》(An Integrating Variation: Observation Report of the Liujia, Xueyuan Press, 2024 ), 中央企業社會責任促進民族團結進步— 基於廣西華潤希望小鎮個案的分析(Central Enterprises’ Corporate Social Responsibility Boost National Cohesion: A Study of China Resources’ Hope  Town  of  Guangxi,  Guangxi  Ethnic  Studies,  2023(3),  從語言探討六甲人的族源(Study on the Origin of the Liujia from Linguistic Perspective), Guangxi Ethnic Studies, 2003(2), etc.. Research fields include globalization, French expatriates, French culture, business anthropology, ethnic interactions, and mango planting.