“Zomia”范式的政治人类学意义及其未来

斯科特的《逃避统治的艺术》一经出版即获得了学界的诸多关注,成为东南亚研究必读书目之一,但同时也受到学者们不同角度的批评。《逃避统治的艺术》重新定义了"Zomia"即东南亚山地的区域研究内涵,并指出二战前该区域内存在着一种山地居民为免于国家统治而从生计方式、政治结构、历史和宗教等方面建构的"逃避"机制。尽管我们可以指出斯科特使用史实的错误(如坚持"南诏泰族说")或缺失,也可以批评他忽略了历史变迁的复杂性,但其研究的独到之处依然值得我们借鉴。从方法论来看,斯科特在长期消化文献材料的基础上大胆提出理论假设,这是学术创新的必要路径。斯科特继承了利奇关于克钦人"贡萨"—"贡劳"社会结构的学术遗产,激进地建构了东南亚山地居民以"逃避"为核心的生存模式,堪称西方无政府主义人类学的一次宏伟实验。"Zomia"研究范式也给了我们很多启示,比如应该勇于跨越边界,从关系主义视角来考察研究对象。通过中国西南和东南亚—南亚地区的比较研究,以交互性和流动性为中心考察其历史与当下的政治经济与社会人文形态,探求新的知识生产格局,有望成为中国人类学和民族学作出新贡献的"民族志学术区"。最后,在"post-Zomia"时代,处于各民族国家包围下的山地族群如何在现代化、全球化的时代背景下通过与国家部门和主流社会持续的遭遇、协商和妥协来寻求自身的发展空间,将会成为今后重要的研究方向。

The Political Anthropological Significance of “Zomia” Paradigm and Its Future

Once published,The Art of Not Being Governed won many awards in the academic world,and as one of the must-read subjects for Southeast Asian studies,but it was also criticized by scholars from different perspectives.This article is a review of Scott’s"escape"paradigm.The book redefined the connotation of"Zomia",the regional study of the Southeast Asian massif,and pointed out that there was a kind of"escape"mechanism in the region before the Second World War,constructed by the mountain people in terms of livelihoods,political structures,history and religion,etc.Although we can blame Scott’s misuse or lacking in historical data(insisting"Nanzhao as a Tai Kingdom"),and ignoring the complexity of historical changes,the uniqueness of his research still is worth for reference.In terms of methodology,it is also a necessary approach for academic innovation to boldly putting forward theoretical hypotheses on the basis of long-term digestion of literatures.With Leach’s academic heritage of the Kachin’s"Gumlao"-"Gumsa"social structure,Scott radically constructed the survival model of Southeast Asian highland people with"escape"as the core,served as a magnificent experiment of Western anarchist anthropology.The"Zomia"paradigm inspires us to cross the border and examine the research objects from the perspective of relationalism.By linking southwestern China with Southeast Asia-South Asia region,examining its history,current political economy and social humanities with interactivity and mobility as the center,Chinese anthropology and ethnology are expected to explore the new patterns of knowledge production and make contribution in"ethnographic regions".Finally,in the"post-Zomia"era,how can mountain communities surrounded by nation-states seek their own development space in the modern and globalized era through continuous encounters,consultations and compromises with state departments and mainstream society will become an important research concern.