The paradox of cultivating community resiliency: Re-agrarianisation and De-peasantisation of indigenous farmers in Taiwan

Abstract

The past decade has witnessed an emerging interest in growing quinoa in indigenous townships in Taiwan, which has overlapped with the recovery effort from disasters following Typhoon Morakot in 2009. This paper critically examines the acclaim given to the quinoa boom as testifying to the community resilience of the indigenous people displaced by disasters and relocation policies. Tracing the changing socio-ecologies of the indigenous communities, the case study observes the simultaneous reagrarianization and depeasantization of indigenous farmers in response to a series of crises. It illustrates the ongoing depeasantization underneath the expansion of quinoa growing, which is engendering a set of paradoxical practices of community resilience that is restructuring the landscape of communities.