The egalitarian character of traditional irrigation (subak) systems in Bali has been widely documented and discussed by anthropologists, historians, and archaeologists. In a recent study, Stephen Lansing and Karyn Fox have considered how the principles of niche construction theory might help to understand the genesis of these systems, as well as certain of their institutional characteristics. Here I discuss how this approach might be extended, to include the relationship between subak systems and the hierarchical organization of the Balinese state, within which they exist. Just as the logistics of subak irrigation work to maintain a symbiosis between rice farmers and the non-human parasites (e.g. crop-pests) who surround them, so the ritual elaboration of the agrarian calendar works as a kind of cultural camouflage against the parasitical interests of the state. While in theory, these ecological and institutional dimensions of subak may seem to pertain to quite separate spheres of Balinese life, in practice they are intertwined aspects of a single system, which has allowed the subak to survive from their origins in the 11th century AD, down to their recent inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

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避免国家的瘟疫：对利基建设，遗产和神圣的水厂的一些思考

巴厘岛的传统灌溉（subak）系统具有平等特征，人类学家，历史学家和考古学家对此进行了广泛记录和讨论。在最近的一项研究中，斯蒂芬·兰辛（Stephen Lansing）和卡琳·福克斯（Karyn Fox）考虑了利基建设理论的原理如何帮助理解这些系统的起源以及某些机构特征。在这里，我讨论了如何扩展这种方法，以包括苏巴克系统与存在于其中的巴厘岛国家的等级组织之间的关系。正如斯巴克（Subak）灌溉工作的后勤工作，是为了维持稻农与周围的非人类寄生虫（例如农作物）之间的共生关系，因此，对农业日历的仪式性阐述是对国家寄生利益的一种文化伪装。虽然从理论上讲，Subak的这些生态和制度维度似乎与巴厘岛生活的各个领域有关，但实际上它们是单个系统的相互交织的方面，这使得Subak得以幸存于公元11世纪，直到他们最近被联合国教科文组织列为世界遗产名录。