International Journal of Business Anthropology

“Golden Corner and Silver Edge” and the Construction of the Chinese Overland “Frontier Economic Belt”

Jianxin Zhou — Fri, 15 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0500

In the context of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the opening-up of its frontier areas, China possesses regional advantages known as the “golden corner and silver edge”. Local governments at all levels should leverage their geographical and resource strengths, while the country as a whole can systematically and proactively plan the development of an overland frontier economic belt. The formation of a “One Belt” along China’s overland frontier regions as well as the establishment of a “One Belt, Multiple Points” pearl chain comprising towns at the frontier-road intersection, highlights great potentials for frontier development and embodies China’s bigger strategy of constructing a “frontier economic belt”.

How Does Consumers’ Self-Control Predict Financial Behavior and Financial Resilience?

Shirley Ye Sheng, Feng Wei — Fri, 15 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0500

This paper examines the association between self-control and consumer financial resilience. Applying Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) on data sourced from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), our study shows that along with the demonstrated direct relationship between self-control and consumer financial resilience, the benefit of financial practice through daily management plays a key mediating role, positively impacting consumer financial resilience. Leveraging the economic theory of the Behavioral Life-cycle (BLC) Hypothesis, our results suggest that the benefits of self-control on financial resilience largely depend on the cultivation of positive financial actions, which are reinforced through active financial management.

Turning Waste into Means: Human Hair Business in a West Bengal Village

Debjyoti Patra, Sumahan Bandyopadhyay — Fri, 15 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0500

The present study is a part of an ongoing research conducted on human hair business at a rural-level entrepreneurship run by the people living in Lohabarh village under Bhagwanpur-1 Block in Purba Medinipur district of West Bengal, India. This business is also found in many other villages of this administrative block. It deals with the fallen hair tangles which serve as the main raw materials collected from different rural and urban areas of West Bengal. The products like hair wigs or hair extensions are sold in national and international markets through local and foreign traders or through online platforms. Therefore, a large network of business organizations is involved in the whole process. The study aims to know the process of turning the waste into reusable product along with the exploration of the nature of business organization and to understand the networks connected to international market from such a rural-level entrepreneurship so that the local and global interaction is realized in this context. The study reveals how people do this work at the village level and how it is circulated outside the village. It has enquired about the people involved and the extent of dividends contributing to their economic prosperity. It is revealed that a group of economically backward people had an occupational shift to this work, and it helped them to uplift their economic conditions considerably.

Role of Brick Tea Trade in the Formation of the Unitary Multi-Ethnic Country of China

Zhiyang Liu — Fri, 15 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0500

In the Chinese history, no commodity has had a greater impact upon both China and the world other than tea. In the formation of the unitary multi-ethnic country of China, the brick tea trade ran through every stage of the country’s history since the Tang and Song Dynasties as a commercial activity through which the Central Plains dynasties exchanged tea from the Han regions for horses and other commodities from nomads in the northern grasslands and Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Throughout the trick tea trade that continued for one thousand years, all ethnic groups were involved, consciously or passively, in the production, processing, transport and marketing of the tea, and collaborated in all trading chains and links, thus creating the largest trading activity in the history of China or even the world and exerting a significant influence on the formation of the unitary multi-ethnic country of China as a result.

Research on Consumption Upgrading of Rural Residents in Hebei Province

Hou Lu, Yixuan Zhao, Lisha Chen — Fri, 15 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0500

China has achieved significant economic growth in the past 40 years, however, there is still great difference between urban and rural areas on social and economic development. This paper took rural area of Hebei province as an example, introduced the current situation and potential of rural consumption in Hebei Province, analyzed the factors affecting the consumption upgrading, and proposed suggestions on how to promote the consumption upgrading in rural areas of Hebei Province.

Business Anthropology and Education: Approaches, Methodologies, and Implications

Shilpy Raaj — Fri, 15 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0500

The contribution of anthropological contents and methods in different aspects of the study of education is significant. The business functions of education in terms of leadership and management of humans, materials and financial resources for optimal outcomes mandates anthropological insights and underpinnings in educational systems. The early works of Hewett, Boas and Montessori paved the way for the application of anthropological contents and methods to the study and practices of educative processes and systems for better understanding and improvement of learning. Anthropological concepts and principles are integral to the domains of foundations of education, curriculum development, culture studies, classroom interactions, multicultural education, business education, policy implementations, educational research and educational administration. In this study, efforts have been made to show the contributions of both anthropologists and educators in the rise of a new field of anthropology of education since the early decades of the twentieth century. The study, thus, examines the confluence of business anthropology and education resulting in the field of anthropology of education. It highlights the historical development of the convergence of anthropology and education, implications of anthropological concepts, contents and methods in educational studies, and the anthropological approaches in the areas of educational research. Ethnographic methods such as grounded theory, documentary content analysis, and action research have greatly contributed to the knowledge of complex educational issues and challenges. They are integral to the study of educational issues through the techniques of purposive sampling, interview, observation, constant comparison, triangulations, key incident, narration, interpretive stance, and other tools of data gathering, interpretation and analysis. The present study emphasises on the significance of anthropological methods in the study of life in classrooms in term of interactions, and the impacts of the classroom environment on learning as school settings and classroom life provide the requisite environment for anthropological inquiries. It also addresses the current practices in the applications of anthropology of education in the areas of teacher education, curriculum development, multicultural education and educational research.

The Inheritance and Development of Tibetan Traditional Weaving Techniques — An Anthropological Investigation into the ‘rtsed ther’ Weaving Technique in Tibet, China

Zidong Zhou, Yuhua Zhou — Fri, 15 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0500

Traditional weaving techniques represent a microcosm of the unique aesthetics of the Tibetan ethnic group and vividly demonstrate the spiritual and cultural connotations of the Tibetan people through intricate details, showcasing distinct regional characteristics. Case studies on traditional weaving techniques contribute to the preservation and development of Tibetan traditional crafts. This paper based on first-hand data collected through multiple field investigations in Rtse Thang, Lhoka in Tibet, aims at a comprehensive analysis of the natural geographic environment, historical origin, imminent crisis faced by the ‘rtsed ther’ weaving technique, and efforts made to revive and pass on this tradition. It argues that through further inheritance of and exploration into the ‘rtsed ther’ traditional weaving technique, Tibetan traditional weaving can be systematically preserved and promoted.

My Father-like Professor Shi Zhengyi: The Pioneer of Chinese Ethnological Economics (Personal Story)

Guang Tian — Fri, 15 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0500

Professor Shi Zhengyi (1932-2015) was the same age as my father. In Chinese tradition, a teacher for a day is a father for life. Hence, I respectfully call Professor Shi my Father-like Professor. Born in Tongcheng County, Anhui Province, in 1932. Professor Shi graduated from the Master’s Program in History of Economics of the Department of Economics of Renmin University of China in 1957. As a renowned Chinese ethnographer and economist, he has been engaged in theoretical research and teaching economics and ethnology for a long time. With meticulous scholarship and profound knowledge, he has studied Chinese and Western cultures with countless new ideas for research.

A Brief Review of Shi Zhengyi and Chinese Ethnological Economics (Book Review)

Russell Belk — Fri, 15 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0500

The monograph of Shi Zhengyi and Chinese Ethnological Economics was published by the North America Business Press in 2023. In this volume, Professor Robert Tian and his assistant Ni Zhong introduce the work of the late Zhegyi Shi and his legacy of Ethnological Economics to the English-speaking audience for the first time. It is both a professional and a personal account as Robert Tian, along with Foreword writer Professor Wang Tianjin are his former students and carry on Shi’s work today. For instance, Robert Tian has co-authored many volumes in the same Modern China series for North American Business Press. He has organized annual international conferences on business anthropology in many locations across China for years. The Preface and Foreword are thus essential parts of the book and tell of the intertwined lives of Professors Tian, Wang, and Shi.