Spatial changes of ethnic communities during tourism development: a case study of Basha Miao minority community

Lefebvre’s theory of space production argues space is generated from production activities in human societies, which can be quoted to explore the social impact that tourism has had on the communities of minorities. This study, taking a Miao community in southwest China as an example, adopts qualitative research methods to conduct a comparative analysis of the community space before and after tourism was developed. Based on the binary relations between the imagined space and real space, this study begins with the production of traditional space in Basha community, and then analyses the construction of the spatial image of the community by space production entities after the development of tourism. The study found that: (1) Collective construction by a diverse range of entities is the root cause of the changes to Basha’s space; (2) The direct reason for the spatial change of ethnic communities is that some subjects acquire the power of spatial production.