A01=Emilia Roza Sulek
Author_Emilia Roza Sulek
Category=JHMC
Category=KCP
caterpillar fungus
china
commodity trade networks
eq_bestseller
eq_business-finance-law
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
ethnographic fieldwork
Ophiocordyceps sinensis
pastoralist livelihoods
pastoralists
rural economic transformation
socioeconomic impact of fungus trade
tibet
traditional Chinese medicine
Product details
- ISBN 9781041189701
- Weight: 600g
- Dimensions: 156 x 234mm
- Publication Date: 01 Dec 2025
- Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Paperback
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When the demand for, and prices of caterpillar fungus (Ophiocordyceps sinensis, 'the Himalayan Viagra', long a part of traditional Chinese medicine) soared, the pastoralists of Golok on the Tibetan plateau where the fungus is endemic dug up, dried and sold the fungus to traders. In the process, these yak and sheep farmers, used to living on the edge of subsistence, became wealthy beyond their imagination. Trading Caterpillar Fungus in Tibet: When Economic Boom Hits Rural Area tells the story of what they do with the money they earned from gathering and trading caterpillar fungus, and what this money does to them, revealing a sophistication few outsiders would credit them for.
Emilia Roza Sulek is an anthropologist of China, Tibet and Central Asia. She writes about shadow economies, development, conflicts over natural resources, state power, and gender politics. She teaches at the Universities of Zurich and Bern.
