Media by Thomas Conte
Papers by Thomas Conte
Human Ecology, 2014
China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is experiencing a marked decline in grassland quality pa... more China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is experiencing a marked decline in grassland quality partially as a result of government policies to sedentarize nomadic pastoralists and privatized collective grasslands. Previous research suggests that traditional forms of cooperation among Inner Mongolian pastoralists have deteriorated as a result of privatization and sedentarization. Herders in New Barag Right Banner (n=50) representing both sedentary and mobile livestock management strategies were asked to respond to a scaled survey regarding their attitudes towards cooperation with other pastoralists. Inter-rater reliability and Mann-Whitney U Tests were utilized to compare the attitudes towards cooperation across sedentary and mobile settlement categories and to assess whether or not sedentary and mobile herders share the same cultural model regarding cooperation. The authors show that there is both high intra-and inter-group agreement on the survey variables across settlement categories, indicating that sedentary and mobile herders share the same cultural model regardless of their settlement pattern.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Sep 10, 2018
Human foragers are obligately group-living, and their high dependence on mutual aid is believed t... more Human foragers are obligately group-living, and their high dependence on mutual aid is believed to have characterized our species' social evolution. It was therefore a central adaptive problem for our ancestors to avoid damaging the willingness of other group members to render them assistance. Cognitively, this requires a predictive map of the degree to which others would devalue the individual based on each of various possible acts. With such a map, an individual can avoid socially costly behaviors by anticipating how much audience devaluation a potential action (e.g., stealing) would cause and weigh this against the action's direct payoff (e.g., acquiring). The shame system manifests all of the functional properties required to solve this adaptive problem, with the aversive intensity of shame encoding the social cost. Previous data from three Western(ized) societies indicated that the shame evoked when the individual anticipates committing various acts closely tracks the m...
Studies in Human Ecology and Adaptation
China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is experiencing high levels of grassland degradation par... more China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is experiencing high levels of grassland degradation partially as a result of government policies to sedentarize nomadic pastoralists and privatize collective grasslands. Previous research suggests that these policies have reduced Mongolian pastoralists' ability to effectively manage grasslands and cope with negative climatic events. Herders in New Barag Right Banner (n = 50) representing both sedentary and mobile livestock management strategies were asked to respond to a scaled survey regarding their attitudes towards the effectiveness of their current grassland management strategies and their perceptions regarding the future of pastoralism in Inner Mongolia. Inter-rater reliability and Mann-Whitney U Tests were utilized to compare the attitudes towards grassland management and the future viability of livestock production and to test whether or not sedentary and mobile herders share the same attitudes towards these facets of their pastoral way of life. There is both high intra and inter-group agreement on the survey variables across settlement categories, indicating that sedentary and mobile herders share the same attitudinal orientations regardless of their settlement patterns. The implications of these results for future grassland policy and sustainable livestock production are also discussed.
Mongolie intérieure de la Chine connaît des niveaux élevés de dégradation des prairies, en partie à cause des politiques gouvernementales qui essaient de sédentariser éleveurs nomades et de privatiser les prairies collectives. Des recherches antérieures suggèrent que ces politiques ont réduit la capacité des pasteurs mongols à gérer efficacement les prairies et faire face aux événements climatiques négatifs. On a demandé aux éleveurs à New Barag Right Bannière (n = 50) de répondre à un sondage à l'échelle sur leurs attitudes à l'égard de l'efficacité de leurs stratégies de gestion des prairies actuelle et leurs perceptions quant à l'avenir du pastoralisme en Mongolie intérieure. Ils représentaient les deux stratégies de gestion du bétail sédentaires et mobiles. Le coefficient d'objectivité et de Mann-Whitney U tests ont été utilisés pour comparer leurs attitudes envers la gestion des prairies et de la viabilité future de la production animale, et de tester si oui ou non les éleveurs sédentaires et mobiles partagent les mêmes attitudes à l'égard de ces aspects de leur mode de vie pastoral . Il ya accord sur les variables de l'enquête dans toutes les catégories d'établissement, entre les groupes et entre les groupes, ce qui indique que les éleveurs sédentaires et mobiles partagent les mêmes orientations attitudes indépendamment de leurs modes d'établissement. Les implications de ces résultats pour la future politique de prairies et de la production animale durable sont examinés.
En China, la Región Autónoma de Mongolia Interior está experimentando altos niveles de degradación de las praderas como resultado de políticas gubernamentales destinadas a convertir en sedentarias poblaciones nómadas dedicadas al pastoreo y a privatizar praderas de uso colectivo. Investigaciones previas sugieren que estas políticas han reducido la habilidad de los pastores mongoles para gestionar las praderas y superar eventos climáticos negativos. Un total de cincuenta pastores de la franja derecha de New Barag, con estrategias de ganadería tanto nómada como sedentaria, respondieron a un cuestionario tipo escala sobre sus actitudes respecto a la efectividad de sus actuales estrategias de gestión de las praderas y sobre sus percepciones respecto al futuro del pastoreo en Mongolia Interior. A fin de comparar las actitudes respecto a la gestión de las praderas y la viabilidad futura de la producción ganadera, así como de comprobar hasta qué punto pastores sedentarios y nómadas comparten las mismas actitudes hacia estas facetas de su vida como pastores, se usaron los test de fiabilidad entre evaluadores y de Mann-Whitney U. Se observa un alto nivel de acuerdo tanto en cada grupo como entre un grupo y otro en las respuestas a las variables, indicando que los pastores nómadas y los sedentarios comparten las mismas orientaciones en su actitud, independientemente de sus patrones de asentamiento. Se discuten igualmente las implicaciones de estos resultados para futuras políticas sobre las praderas y la producción ganadera.
Human Ecology , Dec 1, 2014
***REVISED PROOFS: The final publication is available at http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007... more ***REVISED PROOFS: The final publication is available at http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10745-014-9690-4
China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is experiencing a marked decline in grassland quality partially as a result of government policies to sedentarize nomadic pastoralists and privatized collective grasslands. Previous research suggests that traditional forms of cooperation among Inner Mongolian pastoralists have deteriorated as a result of privatization and sedentarization. Herders in New Barag Right Banner (n=50) representing both sedentary and mobile livestock management strategieswere asked to respond to a scaled survey regarding their attitudes towards cooperation with other pastoralists. Inter-rater reliability and Mann–Whitney U Tests were utilized to compare the attitudes towards cooperation across sedentary and mobile settlement categories and to assess whether or not sedentary and mobile herders share the same cultural model regarding cooperation. The authors show that there is both high intra- and inter-group agreement on the survey variables across settlement categories, indicating that sedentary and mobile herders share the same cultural model regardless of their settlement pattern.
Journal of Political Ecology, Feb 3, 2015
China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is experiencing high levels of grassland degradation par... more China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is experiencing high levels of grassland degradation partially as a result of government policies to sedentarize nomadic pastoralists and privatize collective grasslands. Previous research suggests that these policies have reduced Mongolian pastoralists' ability to effectively manage grasslands and cope with negative climatic events. Herders in New Barag Right Banner (n = 50) representing both sedentary and mobile livestock management strategies were asked to respond to a scaled survey regarding their attitudes towards the effectiveness of their current grassland management strategies and their perceptions regarding the future of pastoralism in Inner Mongolia. Inter-rater reliability and Mann-Whitney U Tests were utilized to compare the attitudes towards grassland management and the future viability of livestock production and to test whether or not sedentary and mobile herders share the same attitudes towards these facets of their pastoral way of life. There is both high intra and inter-group agreement on the survey variables across settlement categories, indicating that sedentary and mobile herders share the same attitudinal orientations regardless of their settlement patterns. The implications of these results for future grassland policy and sustainable livestock production are also discussed.
Master's Thesis by Thomas Conte
approved: Bryan D. Tilt This thesis explore the effects of China's Grassland Contract policy on s... more approved: Bryan D. Tilt This thesis explore the effects of China's Grassland Contract policy on sedentary and mobile Inner Mongolian pastoralists' attitudes towards cooperation, current grassland management practices, and the future viability of livestock herding in New Barag Right Banner, Inner Mongolia. Semi-structured interviews, a scaled survey instrument, and participant observation were carried out in three case-study villages in New Barag Right Banner. The author hypothesized that because they maintain a livestock management strategy more closely related to the nomadic grazing traditionally practiced in the region, mobile pastoralists would have significantly more positive attitudes than their sedentary counterparts. Results show that herders representing both sedentary and mobile livestock management strategies share the same attitudes towards cooperation, grassland management, and the future viability of pastoralism in Inner Mongolia. Thus, the study results suggest that recent grassland policy may be affecting Inner Mongolian pastoralists representing different settlement categories in uniform ways. ©Copyright by Thomas J. Conte
Publications by Thomas Conte
Human foragers are obligately group-living, and their high dependence on mutual aid is believed t... more Human foragers are obligately group-living, and their high dependence on mutual aid is believed to have characterized our species' social evolution. It was therefore a central adaptive problem for our ancestors to avoid damaging the willingness of other group members to render them assistance. Cognitively, this requires a predictive map of the degree to which others would devalue the individual based on each of various possible acts. With such a map, an individual can avoid socially costly behaviors by anticipating how much audience devaluation a potential action (e.g., stealing) would cause and weigh this against the action's direct payoff (e.g., acquiring). The shame system manifests all of the functional properties required to solve this adaptive problem, with the aversive intensity of shame encoding the social cost. Previous data from three Western(ized) societies indicated that the shame evoked when the individual anticipates committing various acts closely tracks the magnitude of devaluation expressed by audiences in response to those acts. Here we report data supporting the broader claim that shame is a basic part of human biology. We conducted an experiment among 899 participants in 15 small-scale communities scattered around the world. Despite widely varying languages, cultures, and subsistence modes, shame in each community closely tracked the devaluation of local audiences (mean r = +0.84). The fact that the same pattern is encountered in such mutually remote communities suggests that shame's match to audience devaluation is a design feature crafted by selection and not a product of cultural contact or convergent cultural evolution.
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Media by Thomas Conte
Papers by Thomas Conte
Mongolie intérieure de la Chine connaît des niveaux élevés de dégradation des prairies, en partie à cause des politiques gouvernementales qui essaient de sédentariser éleveurs nomades et de privatiser les prairies collectives. Des recherches antérieures suggèrent que ces politiques ont réduit la capacité des pasteurs mongols à gérer efficacement les prairies et faire face aux événements climatiques négatifs. On a demandé aux éleveurs à New Barag Right Bannière (n = 50) de répondre à un sondage à l'échelle sur leurs attitudes à l'égard de l'efficacité de leurs stratégies de gestion des prairies actuelle et leurs perceptions quant à l'avenir du pastoralisme en Mongolie intérieure. Ils représentaient les deux stratégies de gestion du bétail sédentaires et mobiles. Le coefficient d'objectivité et de Mann-Whitney U tests ont été utilisés pour comparer leurs attitudes envers la gestion des prairies et de la viabilité future de la production animale, et de tester si oui ou non les éleveurs sédentaires et mobiles partagent les mêmes attitudes à l'égard de ces aspects de leur mode de vie pastoral . Il ya accord sur les variables de l'enquête dans toutes les catégories d'établissement, entre les groupes et entre les groupes, ce qui indique que les éleveurs sédentaires et mobiles partagent les mêmes orientations attitudes indépendamment de leurs modes d'établissement. Les implications de ces résultats pour la future politique de prairies et de la production animale durable sont examinés.
En China, la Región Autónoma de Mongolia Interior está experimentando altos niveles de degradación de las praderas como resultado de políticas gubernamentales destinadas a convertir en sedentarias poblaciones nómadas dedicadas al pastoreo y a privatizar praderas de uso colectivo. Investigaciones previas sugieren que estas políticas han reducido la habilidad de los pastores mongoles para gestionar las praderas y superar eventos climáticos negativos. Un total de cincuenta pastores de la franja derecha de New Barag, con estrategias de ganadería tanto nómada como sedentaria, respondieron a un cuestionario tipo escala sobre sus actitudes respecto a la efectividad de sus actuales estrategias de gestión de las praderas y sobre sus percepciones respecto al futuro del pastoreo en Mongolia Interior. A fin de comparar las actitudes respecto a la gestión de las praderas y la viabilidad futura de la producción ganadera, así como de comprobar hasta qué punto pastores sedentarios y nómadas comparten las mismas actitudes hacia estas facetas de su vida como pastores, se usaron los test de fiabilidad entre evaluadores y de Mann-Whitney U. Se observa un alto nivel de acuerdo tanto en cada grupo como entre un grupo y otro en las respuestas a las variables, indicando que los pastores nómadas y los sedentarios comparten las mismas orientaciones en su actitud, independientemente de sus patrones de asentamiento. Se discuten igualmente las implicaciones de estos resultados para futuras políticas sobre las praderas y la producción ganadera.
China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is experiencing a marked decline in grassland quality partially as a result of government policies to sedentarize nomadic pastoralists and privatized collective grasslands. Previous research suggests that traditional forms of cooperation among Inner Mongolian pastoralists have deteriorated as a result of privatization and sedentarization. Herders in New Barag Right Banner (n=50) representing both sedentary and mobile livestock management strategieswere asked to respond to a scaled survey regarding their attitudes towards cooperation with other pastoralists. Inter-rater reliability and Mann–Whitney U Tests were utilized to compare the attitudes towards cooperation across sedentary and mobile settlement categories and to assess whether or not sedentary and mobile herders share the same cultural model regarding cooperation. The authors show that there is both high intra- and inter-group agreement on the survey variables across settlement categories, indicating that sedentary and mobile herders share the same cultural model regardless of their settlement pattern.
Master's Thesis by Thomas Conte
Publications by Thomas Conte
Mongolie intérieure de la Chine connaît des niveaux élevés de dégradation des prairies, en partie à cause des politiques gouvernementales qui essaient de sédentariser éleveurs nomades et de privatiser les prairies collectives. Des recherches antérieures suggèrent que ces politiques ont réduit la capacité des pasteurs mongols à gérer efficacement les prairies et faire face aux événements climatiques négatifs. On a demandé aux éleveurs à New Barag Right Bannière (n = 50) de répondre à un sondage à l'échelle sur leurs attitudes à l'égard de l'efficacité de leurs stratégies de gestion des prairies actuelle et leurs perceptions quant à l'avenir du pastoralisme en Mongolie intérieure. Ils représentaient les deux stratégies de gestion du bétail sédentaires et mobiles. Le coefficient d'objectivité et de Mann-Whitney U tests ont été utilisés pour comparer leurs attitudes envers la gestion des prairies et de la viabilité future de la production animale, et de tester si oui ou non les éleveurs sédentaires et mobiles partagent les mêmes attitudes à l'égard de ces aspects de leur mode de vie pastoral . Il ya accord sur les variables de l'enquête dans toutes les catégories d'établissement, entre les groupes et entre les groupes, ce qui indique que les éleveurs sédentaires et mobiles partagent les mêmes orientations attitudes indépendamment de leurs modes d'établissement. Les implications de ces résultats pour la future politique de prairies et de la production animale durable sont examinés.
En China, la Región Autónoma de Mongolia Interior está experimentando altos niveles de degradación de las praderas como resultado de políticas gubernamentales destinadas a convertir en sedentarias poblaciones nómadas dedicadas al pastoreo y a privatizar praderas de uso colectivo. Investigaciones previas sugieren que estas políticas han reducido la habilidad de los pastores mongoles para gestionar las praderas y superar eventos climáticos negativos. Un total de cincuenta pastores de la franja derecha de New Barag, con estrategias de ganadería tanto nómada como sedentaria, respondieron a un cuestionario tipo escala sobre sus actitudes respecto a la efectividad de sus actuales estrategias de gestión de las praderas y sobre sus percepciones respecto al futuro del pastoreo en Mongolia Interior. A fin de comparar las actitudes respecto a la gestión de las praderas y la viabilidad futura de la producción ganadera, así como de comprobar hasta qué punto pastores sedentarios y nómadas comparten las mismas actitudes hacia estas facetas de su vida como pastores, se usaron los test de fiabilidad entre evaluadores y de Mann-Whitney U. Se observa un alto nivel de acuerdo tanto en cada grupo como entre un grupo y otro en las respuestas a las variables, indicando que los pastores nómadas y los sedentarios comparten las mismas orientaciones en su actitud, independientemente de sus patrones de asentamiento. Se discuten igualmente las implicaciones de estos resultados para futuras políticas sobre las praderas y la producción ganadera.
China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is experiencing a marked decline in grassland quality partially as a result of government policies to sedentarize nomadic pastoralists and privatized collective grasslands. Previous research suggests that traditional forms of cooperation among Inner Mongolian pastoralists have deteriorated as a result of privatization and sedentarization. Herders in New Barag Right Banner (n=50) representing both sedentary and mobile livestock management strategieswere asked to respond to a scaled survey regarding their attitudes towards cooperation with other pastoralists. Inter-rater reliability and Mann–Whitney U Tests were utilized to compare the attitudes towards cooperation across sedentary and mobile settlement categories and to assess whether or not sedentary and mobile herders share the same cultural model regarding cooperation. The authors show that there is both high intra- and inter-group agreement on the survey variables across settlement categories, indicating that sedentary and mobile herders share the same cultural model regardless of their settlement pattern.