This dissertation examines pastoral modernization in Honggergaole Town, Inner Mongolia, through the lens of Actor-Network Theory (ANT). Drawing on three years of ethnographic fieldwork, it reframes modernization not as a unilinear human project but as a dynamic assemblage co-constituted by heterogeneous actors—herders, state policies, fences, precipitation patterns, cattle breeds, and mechanical equipment. Employing a symmetry principle, the study traces how non-human entities exert agency in shaping ecological governance, production strategies, and daily livelihoods. Five dimensions—ecology, production, livelihood, governance, and culture—are analyzed to reveal the mechanisms of translation and alliance formation. Key findings illuminate tensions between standardized policy and local ecological specificity, as well as the adaptive resilience of hybrid networks that fuse indigenous knowledge with modern technology. The dissertation introduces an “actor-tracking method” and contributes a multispecies perspective to the anthropology of development, highlighting how dung, solar panels, and Simmental cattle actively participate in the remaking of Inner Asian pastoral landscapes. Ultimately, it advocates for elastic governance attuned to the material and social complexities of grassland life.
Xiaoning Zhang (Tue,) studied this question.