Paper short abstract:

This talk critically explores transformations in the human-donkey relationship in Pakistan and examines how the use of the donkey skin for preparing a traditional Chinese medicine provide us with an alternate avenue to analytically reflect the sustainability approach of China's BRI.

Paper long abstract:

Recent scholarly studies supporting the sustainable approach of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) argue that China’s mega-money project spanning across more than 100 countries promises to bring sustainability through rapid completion of infrastructural projects. This talk instead focuses on the human-donkey relationship and, through a careful exploration of the lifeworlds of poor donkey keepers in Pakistan, argues that sustainability should be measured by determining the wellbeing of both humans and more-than-humans, and by preserving their knotted relationship that serves these communities. By critically analyzing the donkey trade and slaughter for developing a traditional Chinese medicine, ejioa, this talk examines the disappearance of donkeys from the local ecology, the animal’s shifting role from a valuable working partner for poor families to an exploitable commodity in a globalized world, and long term social, economic, and environmental impacts associated with a decline in the donkey population in Pakistan. By reflecting on the intertwined relationship between donkeys and their keepers, this talk provides an analytical reflection of the BRI and its sustainability.