DDIG: The Effects of Economic and Cultural Capital on Perceptions of Environmental Risk and Quality of Life among Rural Industrial Community Members in Southwest China

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Since the economic reforms of the late 1970s, industries located in rural areas (township and village enterprises, TVEs) have accounted for a growing percentage of China's Gross Domestic Product. However, because of a lack of appropriate technology, proper pollution monitoring and sufficient capital, TVEs emit 60% of China's carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and suspended particulates. These pollutants lead to increased levels of emphysema, asthma, bronchitis and lung cancer in China's rural areas. At the same time that TVE laborers and community residents are faced with relatively increased environmental risk, including harmful effects on soil, water, air, plants and animals, they are also experiencing a marked improvement in their material standard of living. This research project, conducted by a Ph.D. student in anthropology at the University of Washington, will be conducted in Futian Township, a small industrial community located in China's Sichuan province. The student will perform basic tests for air and water quality, and collect data on community perceptions of quality of life and environmental risk based on survey questionnaires and ethnographic data. Drawing upon the theoretical approaches of political ecology and environmental risk perception, these data will be used to test hypotheses regarding perceptions of environmental risk. The study will allow general extrapolations to be made about similar rural industrial communities throughout China and in other countries where rapid development coincides with environmental degradation, and will contribute to understanding those factors that may mitigate or exacerbate environmental degradation.