Village leadership, social networks and collective actions in indigenous communities: Case of Hani rice terrace social-ecological system in Southwest China

Leadership and social networks substantially influence the collective actions in rural communities. It is important to understand how village elites influence villagers through social networks and facilitate collective actions, especially for indigenous communities. This paper takes the rice terrace social-ecological system (SES) of the Hani ethnic minority in China as a case and adopts a mixed methodology to explore the diversified roles of various types of village elites in the collective actions of managing four social-ecological sub-systems: forests, villages, terraces, and water. Results reveal that institutional and non-institutional elites play different roles in coordinating the collective actions of managing four sub-systems. Social network analysis shows that village elites have high degree centrality and play bridging roles between different sub-groups, but differences exist between the network patterns of managing forests and water and managing villages and terraces. Contagion models show that both friendship and advice networks contribute to the social influence among villagers, but advice networks have larger influences in managing villages, terraces, and water than friendship networks. This study provides insights into the heterogeneity and dynamics of village leadership and social networks in managing rural SESs that are experiencing rapid socio-economic changes, and the results contribute to making integrative and adaptive planning and development policies for indigenous communities.