Cognitive models and predicaments in reservoir resettlement projects in Chinese ethnic minority areas —A case study of Zhuang Ethnic group

Chinese government and the state-owned companies built many dams in ethnic minority areas in recent years, which lead to many resettlement projects. Those projects have good experiences as well as many risks and resistances. Why those development projects have so many risks and resistances, the main explanation focus on the shortcoming of institutions and investment, the inefficacy of management methods. This paper analyses this kind of phenomena in other perspective. Using the ethnographical methods of fieldwork, the paper finds that three main stakeholders involve in those resettlement programs. Because their cognitive models are very different, the contradictions and conflicts are inevitably. Especially, the immigrant´s cognitive models opposed to the anther stakeholders´ models, which lead to political risks sprightly. At last, the paper provides a new tactic that resettlement projects should consider not only the institution building and more investment, but also the immigrants´ cognitive models and the cultural demand.