竞争与(不)平等:湖南凤凰苗寨游家庭餐馆的个案研究

Competition and(In)equality: A Case Study of the Family Restaurants in a Touristic Miao Village in Fenghuang County of Hunan, China

文章通过对湖南凤凰县苗寨游家庭餐馆经营的田野调查,透过"有限利益"和与之相关的"竞争为平等"的观点来探索新经济背景下农民旅游创业及其经济行为背后的逻辑。从"有限利益"的角度来看,农民社会不是因为缺乏理性而保守,而是个人的超前在传统社会环境下被视为对社群稳定构成威胁。目前倡导的新自由主义发展模式从"无限利益"和"竞争为领先"的观点出发,主张个体而不是集体的富足,加深了社会不平等,与基于"有限利益"和"竞争为平等"的传统农民世界观矛盾。通过对比传统农民社会和全球化社会截然不同的世界观,有助于对农民创业的经济行为的理解,从而更有效地推进相关农村发展项目,为实现可持续的共同富裕和公平发展带来启示。

This article applies a＂limited good＂and associated＂competing to remain equal＂viewpoint to an ethnographic case study of family restaurants in Longcun, a touristic Miao village in Fenghuang County of Hunan, China. It discusses the cooperation and competition among these restaurants that provide standard meals to tour groups, and explores peasant entrepreneurship in a tourism context and the rationality behind their economic behaviors. The view of＂limited good＂sees social division of wealth holistically, in which the accumulation of wealth for some means wealth being taken away from others（a closed-system worldview）. From the view of＂limited good＂, the conservativeness of peasant society should not be attributed to the lack of rationality; rather, their conservativeness is due to the fact that one individual＇s gain in a traditional social environment tends to be perceived as threat to community stability.In this tourism development context, the villagers may have outwardly adopted elements of official＂development discourse＂, and desire to achieve material affluence. But the current neoliberal development model, which is derived from an open- system worldview that emphasizes＂unlimited good＂ and ＂competing to get ahead＂, advocates individual rather than collective prosperity and deepens social inequality. It contradicts the closed- system worldview of ＂limited good＂ and＂competing to remain equal＂among traditional peasant societies where social pressure based on egalitarian morality（e.g. envy and jealousy） works as an effective mechanism to strive for not only prosperity, but also equality.The case of Longcun has broader implications. It helps us better understand the rationality behind the economic behaviors of peasant entrepreneurs, thus contributing to the effectiveness of relevant rural development projects, and it sheds light on sustainable common prosperity and equitable development.It suggests that it might be time to consider replacing the open- system worldview of the＂unlimited good＂promoted by the mainstream economists with the closed- system peasant worldview of the＂limited good＂.