Tourism in a Sacred Landscape: Political Economy and Sherpa Ecological Knowledge

Tourism in a Sacred Landscape: Political Economy and Sherpa Ecological Knowledge

Jeremy Spoon, PhD Candidate, Anthropology Dept. UH Mānoa

3:00 pm • 20 March 2008 • Saunders 345

“This presentation focuses on the interrelations between political economy and Khumbu Sherpa ecological knowledge in the Nepal Himalaya near Chomolangma (Mount Everest). Based on my PhD research conducted over 19 months between 2004 and 2007, I address how peoples’ perceptions and interactions with place have been influenced by the advent of a protected area, more than 30 years of tourism, a ten-year Maoist war and political revolution, increased wealth, and Western-style education. In this case, the negotiation involves the indigenous Khumbu Sherpa, a Tibeto-Burman Buddhist people who practice agro-pastoralism, and in recent years provide tourism services. My work is theoretically framed by post-structuralist political ecology in which people-nature relations are viewed as constantly changing without a specified beginning or end, and political economy is an integral driver of change. The methodology I employed combined quantitative and qualitative ethnographic and survey techniques at multiple scales, engaging the research questions across demographics, as well as suggesting the relevance of these findings to the sustainability of biological and cultural diversity. The results indicate that local governance, external awareness of indigenous institutions, market integration, gender, age, Western-style education, and specialization are variables that influence the distribution, transmission, and/or acquisition of ecological knowledge in the domains of species, spiritual perspectives and taboos, and landscape.”

Jeremy Spoon is a PhD Candidate and former Lecturer in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Hawai‘i-Mānoa and a Research Affiliate at Tribhuvan University, Nepal. He holds a B.A. in Ethnic Studies from the University of Michigan and an M.A. in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Hawai‘i-Mānoa. Mr. Spoon has ten years experience working with international non-governmental organizations on research on protected areas and indigenous and other peoples in the United States, Kenya, and Nepal. **************************** For further information, please contact Anthropology at anthprog@hawaii.edu

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