Changing, Killing and Co-becoming: Yak-Tibetan Pastoralist Relations in the Ongoing Ecological Campaign of Nomad Settlement in Kham Tibet

By conducting the participant observation in Kham Tibet, China, my research will explore three key dimensions of Tibetan pastoralist-yak relations. First, I will examine how people and yak are in a relationship of co-becoming. Second, I will trace the changing nature of this in the context of a state-promoted campaign to settle the pastoralists. Third, I will investigate the human-yak relationship when yaks are killed.

By treating both Tibetan pastoralists and yaks as subjects who engage collaboratively in the research, this practice-led research will develop new methodologies for the social sciences and humanities pertaining to post-human interspecies knowledge production.