Guest Lecture: "Sikkim’s Moving Landscapes. Towards Non-Human Agency Scenarios for the Future"

Sikkim is a small state in India, bordered by China (Tibet), Nepal and Bhutan, known throughout the Himalayas as a biodiversity hotspot and a beyul. The history of Sikkim is the story of a vibrant and sacred territory made by multi-species relationships, of a landscape influenced by both human and non-human agencies. Within the sacred topography of Sikkim, conflicts between humans and the environment are not uncommon, and humans often do not emerge as the victors. The consequences of neglecting the relationship with the non-human communities manifest not only in the spiritual but also in the physical and everyday landscape. ‘Moving landscapes’ can serve as a model to encourage people to reflect on the consequences of their actions and to consider what steps need to be taken to protect the fragile balance of the landscape before it reaches a breaking point. This paper examines the nature of the animated Sikkimese landscape and the modes of interrelation between human and non-human agency. The model of the ‘moving landscapes’ has been employed to demonstrate that, despite the changes brought about by modernization and industrialization processes, there exists in Sikkim a general ontological panorama in which the distinction between ‘nature’ and ‘culture’ is not postulated in the dichotomous terms belonging to the paradigm of modernity, founded on the assumption of a mono-naturalism and multi-culturalism. Conversely, the distinction between human and non-human inhabitants in Sikkim appears to align more closely with the Amerindian scenarios described by Viveiros De Castro, wherein belonging to a single culture is expressed through a multiplicity of forms and bodies. The hypothesis of a Sikkimese perspectivist view, resulting from a convergence of shamanic and Buddhist influences, lends plausibility to the possibility of a more conscious and engaged relationship with the territory and the material forces present there. These forces, rather than reinforcing the primacy of human agency,

demonstrate the capacity to shape the environment, relationships, and bodies. The animated landscape that emerges in the ‘moving landscapes’ is a community of non-human agents representing characters invisible to the human eye yet active and mobile, capable of reorganising everything around them just like humans. The concept of ‘moving landscapes’ is an appropriate tool to contribute to Anthropocene studies, as it fits into broader ecological and anthropological theories concerning agency and relationships between human and non-human communities. The model of a nature that can pack up and leave, leaving man to deal with the consequences of his actions, is extremely powerful, suggestive and also realistic; and it is in this last point hat the real wonder lies. The ‘moving landscape’ creates the image of a nature that forces us to confront the very idea of humanity, even before we confront the violent contradictions of an economic, industrial and cultural model –that of modernisation– that is now hardly sustainable. They force us to reflect on what remains, on the non-human forces behind future changes. The examples and data presented are from the last field trip to Yuksam (West Sikkim) in May.

About the lecturer:

Alessandro Mannarini is a doctoral candidate in the Faculty of Behavioral and Cultural Studies (Anthropology) at the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg. He holds a Master's degree in Cultural Anthropology from Ca' Foscari University of Venice, having specialised in the Anthropology of Asia. His doctoral thesis focused on the relationship between Buddhism, shamanism and the Himalayan region of Sikkim. His research interests include multi-species relationships, environmental conservation and climate change adaptation in the eastern Himalayas, with a particular focus on aligning these with the cultural expectations of the region's ethnolinguistic minorities.

His current doctoral project investigates the interrelations and the nature of the relationship between Sikkim's native religious systems and the landscape. With this research, he seeks to identify relevant findings regarding human and non-human agencies that could inform the broader understanding of the Eastern Himalayas, and potentially contribute to new avenues of inquiry within the field of Eastern Asian studies.

The guest lecture will be held in Lossi 3-328, 14:15-16:00