Paper short abstract:

This paper will discuss the two functions taking effects on the natural resource extraction and the climate change adaptation in the Monpa villages in Tawang (Eastern Himalayas), analysing what works and what does not work for the mountain development works and the role of emotions.

Paper long abstract:

This paper will discuss two functions of emotions based on a case study with the Monpa people in Arunachal Pradesh. The two functions take effects on natural resource extraction and climate change adaptation. The Monpa people are going through a rapid economic and societal change in the recent 30 years since the first hydropower plant was built to supply electricity of the small mountainous area, and the various cultural and societal reasons that reduced the self-sustainable agricultural production. The state-sponsored border road construction organization along with the local government posts, have become the major and sometimes the only employer. The feelings towards the dominant power that affect the self-control of their lives, including safety, prosperity, aspirations, and related to wellbeing, continuity of the community, have been shifted from mainly prefigurated natural forces to the Indian state. In the case of Arunachal, it is particularly interesting because of its border character and it was occupied by the People's Republic of China during the Indo-China War; thus the way of Monpa imagining a state is plural. In this context, this paper will analyse what works and what does not work for the mountain development works which include the safety protection, transportation governance, conservation and public health, with a specific discussion on the role of emotions.