The Political, Social, and Ecological Transformation of a Landscape. The Case of Rubber in Xishuangbanna, China

Driven by economic and ideological
policies, rubber plantations
have been established
in southern China
since the early 1950s. Rubber
was seen as a perfect
way to modernize the “primitive”
shifting agricultural
practices of indigenous
minorities and to “legitimize”
the landscape according to
new Maoist State ideals.
However, large-scale rubber production was dogged by
problems, and most rubber production now emanates
from smallholders, challenging the state notion that
“bigger is better.” In the transition to a free market,
smallholder rubber farms, which grow a wider variety of
crops, have greater flexibility and are better able to
adjust to market changes. These small mixed farms
also enhance ecological and cultural diversity.