Pastoralism (Social Anthropology) Research Papers

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- Geography, Heritage Studies, Pastoralism (Social Anthropology), Turkey

This article explores the concept of resilience as outlined in a recent World Bank publication that applies the concept to rangeland areas in Africa. The paper does not attempt to speak to all of the dimensions of resilience and debates about the concept's applications to pastoral ecology and rangelands. Instead, we utilize a panel data set from northern Kenya and southern Ethiopia that has been analysed in other published studies to reconsider it from a resilience perspective. We show how different livelihood groups in the region are impacted by climate, disease, market, conflict, and land use shocks in a time characterized by a drought phase and a recovery phase. In many cases, there are livelihood-specific impacts of these shocks, and these help explain long-term herd dynamics and pastoralist poverty traps. Our analysis then turns to different ways of measuring resilience and finds that measurements of combined income and asset thresholds provide the most convincing outcomes. We further assess some broader opportunities and innovations that have the potential to enhance resilience in the drylands. Finally, different policy relevant steps that can be taken to enhance resilience are discussed in the context of the considerable heterogeneity in livelihood strategies which occurs in African rangelands.

- by Peter Little
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- Development Studies, Pastoralism (Social Anthropology), Ecology

This paper reports on the results of several research field trips made to the Chalbi Desert area of Marsabit District, northern Kenya, between 1979 and 1983 to study natural resource use and social aspects of Gabra life. The Gabra are nomadic pastoralists who depend primarily on camels and smallstock for subsistence. This report describes plants used by Gabra and their livestock for various purposes.

- by Daniel Stiles and +1
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- Ethnobotany, Pastoralism (Social Anthropology), Land Use
- by Björn Reichhardt
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- Human Geography, Asian Studies, Anthropology, Pastoralism (Social Anthropology)

When I did my fieldwork in Bashada, I often heard of Sill-ama, a mysterious kind of creature that is said to live in the bush. The Sill-ama, people said, own a lot of cattle and cultivate sorghum. But preferably they eat people...
The Sill-ama stories are famous in Bashada and Hamar and loved especially by children when told to them in the evenings sitting around the fire.

Water affect vegetation pattern of dry lands. The present study was designed to study the vegetation of Cholistan desert along moisture gradients. In Cholistan desert rainwater is collected in manmade ponds locally known as Toba (water body/pond in english). These Toba's are source of drinking water for human as well as cattles. Qualitative and Quantitative characteristics of species were measured using quadrat method in the vicinity of ponds (Toba's). A total of 4800 different sized quadrats were used for measuring density, frequency, cover and other qualitative attributes of trees, shrubs and herbs around 100 ponds (Toba's). Preliminary results showed the presence of 49 plant species belonging to 25 families around these ponds. Poaceae is dominant family with 12 species. Dominant species include Capparis deciduas, Salsola imbricata, Cenchrus ciliaris. While rare species include Dalbergia sisso, Abutilon indicum, Heliotropium strigosum. Results revealed that moisture gradient have pronounced effect on distribution of vegetation up to distance of 100 m. Vegetation goes on decline with increase in distance from water bodies. Herbs and trees are most abundant along the boundary of water body while number of shrubs is increasing with increase of distance from water body. The palatable species present in vicinity of Toba is on decline due to over grazing. It is recommended to introduce new palatable species near to the Tobas that can flourish in monsoon season to provide fodder for cattle. Such introduction of ethno-ecologically important plant species for pastoralism can be helpful for reducing grazing pressure on few of the available browsed species. This study will provide a baseline for other studies in the field of ecology, ethnobotany, pastoralism, hydrobiology etc. Introduction Cholistan is a vast desert in southern part of Bahawalpur division of Punjab province in Pakistan. 8% of total land area of Punjab is covered by Cholistan desert and two third of Bahawalpur civil division. Cholistan desert extends over an area of 26000 2 km between 27°42ʹN and 29°45ʹN latitude and 69°52ʹE and 75°24ʹE longitude having an altitude of about 112 m above sea level. It is located in south of Bahawalpur in Punjab extending up to Nara and Thar deserts of Sindh (Akhter and Arshad, 2006). It is unable to fulfill the water needs of local people and their livestock. Ground water is very deep and brackish and cannot be used even for livestock, therefore rainfall is main source of water. The average rainfall is about 166 mm. At many localities in desert runoff is high during normal rainfall events. The rainwater is collected in manmade ponds locally known as " Toba ". These Tobas are not constructed according to any scientifically approved design. These Tobas are generally made on " dahars " i.e compact soil patches. Seepage in these tobas is negligible than the evaporation due to high temperature. About 1500 tobas have been constructed by local people in Cholistan area (Ahmad et al., 2008) but now less than 500 are in running condition due to ordinary design of Tobas. These tobas are source of water to livestock in wet season and dictates the mass movement of livestock from one Toba to another (CDA, 2006). Water lasts just for 3-4 months in these Tobas due to high temperature, seepage and heavy storms in summer season. Storage capacity of Tobas is reducing rapidly due to siltation especially during monsoon season (PCRWR, 2004). Cholistani pastoralists move over long distances in desert in search of good pastures and water. Quality and quantity of water in tobas is factor behind their migration. The better the quality/quantity of water longer the stay of nomads at that toba. There are no hard and specific rules for migration. Pastoralists start to move towards the lesser Cholistan from the mid of February as forage starts to decline around the tobas in Greater Cholistan desert due to increase in grazing pressure. Ethnoecology is the study of how people manipulate and use the resources in the environment. While pastoralism is the branch of agriculture related to livestock rearing. As in the Cholistan desert whole economy depends on earning from livestock and due to absence of basic facilities of health and food the have to depend on local resources of desert. The present study was designed with an aim to determine the role of tobas (water bodies) on pastoral life style in the Cholistan desert. The particular objectives of the study were to analyze the

- by Shujaul Mulk Khan and +1
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- Pastoralism (Social Anthropology), Desert Ecology, Thar desert, Desert Ecosystems
- by Nicolas Lescureux
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- Pastoralism (Social Anthropology), Agriculture, Animal Ecology, Mountains

The forest is intrinsic to the lives of shepherds, who are constantly on the move in search of fresh pastures for their goats and sheep. The forest, or the ‘waste-land’, separates the shepherds from the settled communities that they interact with across the altitudinal landscape. The forest is also a dominant cultural ‘space’ in which the variegated ethos, imbibed over centuries of interaction with the ‘settled communities’, is processed to impart a new meaning to the universe of the shepherds. This is an enchanted universe where birds speak, animals help and humans are transformed, to evoke in ‘us’ the sense of the ‘miraculous’ and the ‘marvellous’. In this world, the grotesque and sublime merge into each other and conjure a unique cosmology where the sense of wonder is heightened by the ‘super-natural’ that fashions a new myth. The vibrancy of struggle between ‘settlement’ and ‘nomadism’ is reflected in the folk-imaginary, where the ‘elements’, animals and humans play a role in attempting to create a ‘just-society’. This is illustrated through folktales, two of which have been translated and presented here, popular among the shepherds of Chamba in Himachal Pradesh.

- by mahesh sharma
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- Cultural Studies, Folklore, Social Anthropology, South Asian Studies

In vielen Teilen der Erde haben sich im Verlauf der letzten Jahrtausende mannigfache Formen mobiler Viehzucht entwickelt. Eine besondere Stellung nimmt dabei der Pastoralnomadismus ein, für den eine permanente bzw. zyklische räumliche Mobilität charakteristisch ist: Hirten ziehen mit ihren Herden und dem auf Lasttieren transportierten Eigentum auf weitgehend festgelegten Routen von Weideplatz zu Weideplatz, dem jahreszeitlich bedingten Klima- und Vegetationswechsel folgend.
Ein neues Forschungsprojekt hat 2017 mit der wissenschaftlichen Dokumentation einer Nomadenfamilie aus der ethnischen Gruppe der Aït Atta im Jbel Sarhro Gebiet bzw. zentralen Hohen Atlas in Marokko begonnen. Die Untersuchungen sollen dabei auch Rückschlüsse auf die Viehzucht in älteren Perioden ermöglichen und durch die Einbindung geoarchäologischer Methoden naturwissenschaftlich ergänzt und gefestigt werden. GIS-Analysen und im Besonderen eine kombinierte Struktur-Signatur-Analyse von Satellitendaten (WorldView 2) sind hier eine sinnvolle Ergänzung,
um in 2500 m Höhe ü. NN viehwirtschaftliche Strukturen zu erkennen. Neben dem primären Fokus auf die Sommerweiden im Hohen Atlas wird zudem das ca. 150 km südlich gelegene Winterlager im Jbel Sarhro Gebiet untersucht. Insbesondere die geschichteten Sedimente in den Viehpferchen haben das Potenzial, als hochauflösendes Archiv der Weide- und Landschaftsgeschichte zu dienen. Sie stellen ebenso einen ökologischen Sonderstandort dar, der ein spezielles Nährstoff- und Bodenfeuchteregime besitzt. Diese Bedingungen wirken sich auf die Standortqualität der angrenzenden Umgebung aus. Solche Diffusionsmechanismen lassen sich supralokal in der Region über die GIS-Analyse fassen.

- by Thomas Reitmaier and +2
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- Prehistoric Archaeology, Anthropology, Ethnoarchaeology, Geoarchaeology

There is little research on pastoralists’ responses to new expansion opportunities. We explore how pastoralists in Kazakhstan have responded to rapid, fundamental institutional and macroeconomic changes. We compare use patterns of grazing and water sites in two periods; 1999-2003, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, when the rural economy was in crisis and 2012-14, following a recovery in livestock numbers and a boost in the national economy. The study uses historical studies, formal surveys and anthropological interviews to document changes in livestock ownership, management and selection of pasture and water sites. In 2012-14, owners of the largest flocks had extended their grazing sites further away from the settled villages, moving away from more densely used sites more easily accessed in the 1990s. These new pastoral elites are colonising abandoned state-owned pastures and wells developed by Soviet state farms. Smaller-scale livestock owners based in villages are now less able to entrust their animals to larger-scale owners at remote desert sites, a change since the early post-Soviet period. The economic recovery of Kazakhstan has encouraged pioneering moves by entrepreneurial individuals, moves permitted by post-Soviet laws for privatised pasture land tenure. This expansionist movement parallels ecological patterns of site sequencing in wildlife.
Key words: Pastoralism; former Soviet Union; livestock; Kazakhstan; site selection

- by Carol Kerven
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- Pastoralism (Social Anthropology), Drylands, Kazakhstan, former Soviet Union

In a context of stark opposition between supporters and opponents to the wolf, the extent to which this particular predator is dangerous for humans is still an open question.
What lies beneath the negative perception of the wolf?
What should be the historian's contribution, based on historical sources and historical methods?
Thanks to a database of 4,700 cases of wolf attacks on human having occurred in France between 1580 and 1880, it is now possible to grasp the chronological evolution and spatial evolution of wolf related risks.
Undeniably real, though mostly belonging to a remote past, and statistically rare, though anthropologically intolerable, these attacks point to two opposite groups, predatory wolves occasionally preying on humans on one hand, rabid wolves striking indiscriminately a whole population on the other.
The attacks of the first kind occurred regularly in an unsafe environment, and gave rise to tales of "Ferocious Beasts" in times of dramatic crisis (1594-1600, 1691-1694, 1746-1750, 1764-1767, 1814-1819).
The second kind was spatially and chronologically less widespread, but sowed the seeds of mass hysteria, all the more persistent since the underlying sickness it forebode remained without a cure before the last third of the 20th century.
The conclusion between these two different realities gave Canis Lupus its negative aura, significantly dimmed recently however since it has entirely lost its material basis, at least in France.

- by Jean-Marc Moriceau
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- Modern History, Economic History, Rural Sociology, French History

The independent and synergic impacts of climatic change and capitalist expansion may render pastoral socialecological systems extinct. Climatic change compromises rangelands, while economic development fosters conversion of pastoral land into territories for capitalist expansion. Pastoralists' institutions regulate decisionmaking to socio-environmental change and shape adaptive responses, enabling mobile livestock rearing for using multiple grazing areas, and households' diverse income sources. These institutions are characterized by flexibility, such as mixed individual-collective water and land tenure regimes. However, capitalist-led reduction of land-based resources, the push for privatization and commodification of land and livestock hinder flexibility, and undermine pastoralists' institutions for decision-making; ultimately creating challenges for pastoralists' adaptive capacity. Research on the compound effects of the expanding global economy and climate change on pastoral social-ecological systems is needed to inform efforts constraining unregulated capitalist expansion, and policies for water and land security. Research, practice, and policies will improve pastoral social-ecological systems adaptability and resilience.

What constitutes poverty? How do notions of poverty and, conversely, of wealth become constructed and change through time? And who decides who is poor, and is in the position to suggest remedies? Building on a relatively long tradition of... more

Frontier Tibet addresses a historical sequence that sealed the future of the Sino-Tibetan borderlands. It considers how starting in the late nineteenth century imperial formations and emerging nation-states developed competing schemes of integration and debated about where the border between China and Tibet should be. It also ponders the ways in which this border is internalised today, creating within the People's Republic of China a space that retains some characteristics of a historical frontier. The region of eastern Tibet called Kham, the focus of this volume, is a productive lens through which processes of place-making and frontier dynamics can be analysed. Using historical records and ethnography, the authors challenge purely externalist approaches to convey a sense of Kham's own centrality and the agency of the actors involved. They contribute to a history from below that is relevant to the history of China and Tibet, and of comparative value for borderland studies.

Synthèse bibliographie sur l'écobuage L'écobuage, ou débroussaillement par le feu, est une pratique agricole ancestrale. Originellement, le terme désigne le travail d'arrachage de la végétation et de la couche superficielle de l'humus au moyen d'une écobue, outil proche de la houe, l'incinération en petits tas de ces éléments puis l'épandage des cendres sur les terrains afin de les enrichir en éléments nutritifs. Cette pratique a progressivement disparu au profit de la technique qui consiste à brûler directement les végétaux sur pied dénommée brûlage pastoral et qui a cependant conservé l'appellation d'écobuage plus usitée. (wikipédia : article écobuage) Pour une définition historique et très précise de l'écobuage, des différentes techniques de brûlage et de leur usage, voir l'article de François Sigaut et Pierre Morlon publié dans Les mots de l'agronomie. Histoire et critique (en ligne). Les différentes pratiques de brûlage : • écobuage (dans sa définition historique et agricole du terme) ou brûlage pastoral • brûlage dirigé de défense forestière contre les incendies (DFCI) réalisé par des équipes d'intervention institutionnelles : pompiers/SDIS,... • brûlage agricole (généralement brûlage des résidus de culture) • culture sur brûlis (n'existant pas en France) • feu de jardin ou brûlage de résidu vert, parfois aussi appelé écobuage Le brûlage pastoral, communément appelé « écobuage », est une technique d'entretien et de régénération des pâturages utilisant le feu courant sur un espace défini durant la période de repos végétatif (fin automne, hiver, début printemps selon le climat). Il concerne uniquement la partie aérienne de la végétation. (wikipédia : article brûlage pastoral) Il est essentiellement pratiqué en zone de montagne. 1. Les aspects positifs de l'écobuage Le brûlage pastoral participe à l'entretien et au maintien des espaces pastoraux, il vise à : • Contrôler les «refus» (la strate herbacée sèche ou morte) et la strate arbustive envahissante • Renouveler et diversifier les ressources pastorales (herbes et arbustes) dans le temps et dans l'espace.

- by Pauline Roux
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- Pastoralism (Social Anthropology), Agriculture

Nous connaissons la transhumance organisée par Noé de Barras à travers son livre de compte dédié presque exclusivement à cette activité pour l’année 1480. En l’étudiant, nous pouvons comprendre comment s’organisait ce flux économique complexe qui mettait en jeux des capitaux importants.
Cette position centrale sociale et géographique place Noé de Barras au milieu d’un réseau dont il monopolise les informations, concentrées dans son livre, qui lui assurent des revenus importants. Mais il ne s’agit pas de la seule raison poussant un noble à s’engager dans une pareille activité. Le bénéfice symbolique est lui aussi important.

This paper deals with the strategies of households living in a peripheral high-mountain region
in order to cope with the post-Soviet energy crisis. The Soviet modernization project failed at
connecting the region to the grid, and imported coal for heating and fuel for producing electric
energy at high costs over long distances. After the collapse of this alimentation system, people
have substituted energy demands with wood and shrubs, and used increasingly available lowcost
Chinese solar equipment to produce electrical energy. International development actors
have failed to increase acceptance for energy efficiency technologies. Despite the Pamirs’
high potential for solar and wind energy and decreasing installation costs, Soviet-style state
planning of energy infrastructure still favours big hydropower stations, despite their high
(social) costs and the limited potential on the Pamir plateau. The paper will discuss bottomup
effects of household decisions and top-down strategies as potentials and obstacles for a
sustainable energy supply in the Pamirs.

This paper explores the role of kinship in herder claims for winter shelter ownership in rural Mongolia, where pastureland is currently designated as state-owned property in the national constitution. Drawing on ethnographic research conducted amongst mobile pastoralist households, this article demonstrates how contemporary winter pasture rights take shape within a locus of political relations structured by custodial land-use practices. It highlights the ways that herders negotiate for territorial rights through appeals to established regional families and are how these appeals are mediated by local government administration. From this analysis, I argue that concepts of kinship in the political economy of pastoralism should be reexamined in light of current debates around land-tenure legislation in Mongolia.

- by N. Thomas Hakansson
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- Economic History, Political Economy, Social Networks, Political Ecology

SPIS TREŚCI
WSTĘP 5
I. W STRONĘ HISTORII 7
Wojciech Dudziak
WĘDRÓWKI BLISKIE CZY DALEKIE?
Początki badań nad pasterstwem karpackim 9
Iveta Zuskinová
BACOWIE I JUHASI Z LIPTOWA ORAZ ICH
KONTAKTY Z OWCZARZAMI Z PODHALA 14
Danuta Blin-Olbert
PASTERSTWO U BOJKÓW I ŁEMKÓW 32
Anna Oczko
PASTERSKA WSPÓLNOTA JĘZYKOWA 44
II. W STRONĘ WSPÓŁCZESNOŚCI 52
Ewa Kocój
GINĄCY ŚWIAT PASTERZY KARPACKICH.
Życie codzienne pasterzy na pograniczu
polsko-słowackim w XXI wieku
jako dziedzictwo kulturowe regionu Karpat
(wybór zagadnień) 54
Małgorzata Kiereś
WIOSENNE ASPEKTY PASTERSKIEJ
OBRZĘDOWOŚCI GÓRALI BESKIDZKICH 134
Józef Michałek
WSPÓŁCZESNE SAŁASZNICTWO
– CO TO TAKIEGO? 172
Anna Łęczyńska
SZLAK KULTURY WOŁOSKIEJ 188
Michał Milerski, Milan Margetin, Andrzej Junkuszew
OWCE WOŁOSKIE 206
Maria i Piotr Kohut
ROZWAŻANIA O WOŁOSKICH PASTERZACH
I SZTUCE RĘCZNIE WYTWARZANYCH SERÓW 222
248

Le phénomène des animaux favoris, propre à l'Afrique de l'Est, est ici étudié chez les Hamar, un des groupes du Sud-Omo en Éthiopie. Plusieurs des pratiques qui lui sont associées, comme la déformation des cornes et la découpe des... more

موضوع هذا الكتاب يدور حول إشكالية توطين البدو والرعاة بصفة عامة والبدو والرعاة في العالم العربي بصفة خاصة، وهو مجال للبحث في الدراسات الأنثروبولوجية التي حظيت باهتمام كبير خلال النصف الثاني من القرن العشرين، في إطار الاهتمام بقضايا التنمية والتغير الاجتماعي، ومكافحة الفقر، والتصحر، والجفاف، والصراعات الإثنية على الموارد، وسياسات الإدماج الاجتماعي والثقافي للأقليات والجماعات العرقية.
موضوع توطين البدو شائك ومتعدد الجوانب ، وملئ بقضايا خلافية كثيرة في علوم الأنثروبولوجية والاقتصاد والإيكولوجيا والدراسات البيئية ودراسات التنمية. وقد حاولت قدر المستطاع أن أقدم للطلاب الدارسين معرفة علمية دقيقة وبطريقة مبسطة تمهد للقارئ المجال لمزيد من الاطلاع حول هذا الموضوع المهم، والذي أصبح يمثل جانباً مهماً في فهم واحدة من التحديات الكبرى التي تواجه الدولة العربية في فرض سيادتها الكاملة على الأرض والسكان.
الكتاب موجه أساساً للدارسين في برنامج علم الاجتماع التطبيقي بمركز التعليم المفتوح بجامعة القاهرة في المستوى الرابع، الفصل الدراسي السابع. ويتكون الكتاب من سبعة فصول: يعرض الأول لأهم جوانب البيئة والاقتصاد البدوي ، وفى الفصل الثاني عرض لملامح البنية الاجتماعية والثقافية للمجتمعات البدوية في العالم العربي، وفى الفصل الثالث معالجة نظرية لمعنى التوطين والملامح العامة له، ويعرض الفصل الرابع محاولات تصنيف التوطين من خلال عرض نقدي لأهم نماذج وأنماط توطين البدو والرعاة، ويختص الفصل الخامس بالتحديات الإيكولوجية والاجتماعية والاقتصادية المرتبطة بالتحول من الترحال إلى الاستقرار في حياة البدو والرعاة، وكذلك العوامل البيئية والاقتصادية والاجتماعية والثقافية والسياسية الفاعلة في عملية التوطين. ويركز الفصل السادس على دراسة التحديات السياسية المصاحبة لتوطين البدو، خاصة فيما يتعلق بصراع الدولة والقبيلة، وفى الفصل السابع عرض لدراسة حالة أجريت عام 2002 لتقييم تجربتي مشروع العون الغذائي في التوطين، ومشروع التوطين على الآبار العميقة في منطقة وسط سيناء بمصر. ولاعتبارات التدريس في المرحلة الجامعية تم إضافة ملخص وافٍ ملحق بكل فصل على حدة ، بالإضافة إلى نماذج من الأسئلة والأجوبة الاسترشادية للامتحانات الطلابية وضعت في نهاية الكتاب تحت عنوان " تطبيقات".

Owing to the situation of food insecurity in the Northern part of Kenya, measures such as gender mainstreaming in livestock management should not be taken lightly. Despite Government intervention, challenges remain in the implementation and application of these policies in order to lead to effective change for most women. This study examined the perceptions of Turkana pastoralist on the influence of gender mainstreaming in livestock management on the social economic status. The study specifically looked at the factors that inhibit gender mainstreaming, attitudes towards gender mainstreaming and gender mainstreaming status in Loima district. The focus was all livestock keepers among the Turkana communities, in Loima district from which a total of 106 residents were selected. The study adopted the descriptive survey design. The data was collected by use of a questionnaire, focus group discussions and an interview schedule. They were piloted using a sub-sample of 11 pastoralists in the district. Data collected was then analyzed with the aid of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 21.0 computer software for descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentages and means). The findings show that the factors that inhibit gender mainstreaming in livestock management include: lack of technical skills among women socio cultural beliefs, distant and risky location for access by women, the tradition governing animal species ownership, unfavorable perception towards control of cash resulting from selling of milk products, and unfavorable perception towards equality participation in livestock production activities. The study also established that Turkana men are considered to play the major role in livestock management in the Turkana community. They are the key decision makers in regard to livestock production activities. The findings show that pastoralists perceptions towards gender roles in livestock production management, men's continuity in dominating the decision making in production activities, animal species ownership, and insecurity issues associated women involvement in production activities were negatively influencing individual household incomes. The findings from this study may help in improving gender mainstreaming in livestock and help the pastoralists to understand how best to cater for their livestock when both men and women participate in livestock activities.

- by asunta lokia
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- Gender Studies, Economics, Development Economics, Food Safety

In Ethiopia, the pastoralists cover 61% of the land area and constitute 12-15% of the total population. Regardless of this fact, studies confirmed that pastoralists were away from the central government for a long, and have been among the most marginalized group in terms of availability and access to public services including sanitation services. Thus, the objective of the study was to study the status, challenges and prospects of Sanitation in Borena Pastoral Community of Ethiopia. Descriptive survey research design with mixed methods of data collection and analysis, were utilized based on primarily evidences collected from local communities, government sectoral offices, and non-government organizations in the sector. Accordingly, the access to all types of latrine in the zone was estimated to be close 68%, however significant proportion of the latrines were unimproved and traditional pits. Moreover, poor water supply, mobile life style of the community, soil property, lack of qualified man power and habit of open defecation were found to be the major impediments. Regarding the prospect, the health extension program, the availability of multiple actors and the One WaSH program are the prominent ones. In order to improve the sanitation coverage by tackling the aforementioned challenges, inter alia, scaling up the best practices of relatively good performing Woredas and enhancing the engagement of the community are recommended.

The site of Wakrita is a small Neolithic establishment located on a wadi in the tectonic depression of Gobaad in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa. The 2005 excavations yielded abundant ceramics that enabled us to define one Neolithic cultural facies of this region, which was also identified at the nearby site of Asa Koma. The faunal remains confirm the importance of fishing in Neolithic settlements close to Lake Abbé , but also the importance of bovine husbandry and, for the first time in this area, evidence for caprine herding practices. Radiocarbon dating places this occupation at the beginning of the 2nd millennium B.C., similar in range to Asa Koma. These two sites represent the oldest evidence of herding in the region, and they provide a better understanding of the development of Neolithic societies in this region.

- by Diaz Amélie and +5
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- African Studies, Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Environmental Science

Between the Alps and the coastal plains of Provence, the practical experience of transhumance contributed to the formation of a large territory travelled by shepherds and their flocks. Most of these men came from Alpine valleys, more specifically from Piedmont. As early as the Middle Ages when transhumance became common in this area, Provence big landowners started to recruit shepherds from Piedmont because of their know-how. The cultural and linguistic proximity with Provence helped their integration into the local community. Shepherds’ identity is defined by their cultural mobility and a result of their multiple sense of belonging. It is however primarily defined by two factors: being transhumants and mountain folk.

This article investigates what happens with leisure experience between cultures when the Mursi of southwestern Ethiopia meet with international tourists. I propose that instead of regarding leisure as a fixed human condition within one society, it might fruitfully be approached as a process that evolves when different societies meet, i.e. as a constantly emerging (and disappearing) practice in cross-cultural encounters. Tourism, studied broadly from an anthropological point of view, offers an excellent field for this investigation. The Western ideology of leisure, mobilized by tourists in non-Western settings, is a good entry point to make tangible how societies understand leisure pursuits in intercultural encounters.

- by Tamás Régi
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- Tourism Studies, Anthropology of Tourism, Pastoralism (Social Anthropology), Leisure
- by Kathrin Bethke
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- English Literature, Romanticism, Literature, Poetry

In this study, we assess the need and desire for an alternative way to generate income which would preserve the environment instead of harming it. Informants told us that the quality of the environment had changed because of increasing erosion, a lack of rain and water sources, a reduction in livestock numbers, an increase in the number of farms, rapid deforestation and increased poverty. Without trees, the important symbiotic relationship between the Maasai and their environment would be destroyed. It would become necessary for the Maasai to leave their homeland and move to the cities. Local residents saw tree planting as the solution to this problem. In this study, we have shown that there is a great need as well as a great desire for a village wide reforestation project. A project of this kind would include civic education, training, and the development of local tree nurseries. Maasai people share an important relationship with their environment and a balance must be created between tree harvesting and tree planting if villagers want to live a sustainable lifestyle now and in the future.

- by Stephanie Hauck
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- Pastoralism (Social Anthropology), Community Forestry, Tree Planting

This text analyzes US sheepdog culture through the lens of American pastoralism, taking its cue from the obvious connection between pastoralism and shepherds, but also locating features of the American pastoral- in particular the tension between nature and civilization and ambivalence towards technology - in the development of sheepdog trials in the US, the figure of the American shepherd, the shepherd's attitude to the dog and the training methods used in the process of training a sheepdog.

The aim of this study was to examine the invasionof Prosopis Juliflora (hereinafter referred to as Prosopis) species and its impacts on pastoralists' livelihoods in Korahey zone of Somali regional state, Eastern Ethiopia. The study used a combination of satellite and socioeconomic data for analysis. Assessment of land use land cover change was performed by using Landsat satellite data acquired over a three reference years 1989, 2001 and 2019. The image was classified using supervised random forest classification method and the extent of Prosopis invasion and its annual rates of spread were calculated for each time interval.Additionally, socioeconomic assessment was conducted by using the primary data which were collected during March, April and May 2019 from total of 216 sampled households in which 120 were Prosopis invaded households and the rest of 96 households were non-invaded households. Descriptive statistics and econometric method (Propensity Score Matching) were used to assess the impact of the Prosopis invasion on the pastoralists' livelihood in the study area. Landsat analysed satellite data showed that Prosopiscoverage increased from 8523.18 ha in 1989 to 350000ha in 2019. Over periods of 30 years the annual rate of Prosopis invasions per year was estimated to about 3.3%, this is equivalent to 11382.56 ha per year. Study results from descriptive data analysis showed that Prosopisinvaded households' Kilocalorie intake per Adult Equivalent (AE)was found to be 1391.479 Kcal which is 66 percent below the minimum subsistence energy requirement per AE per day, 2,100 kcal. The econometric model results indicated that the average calorie intake, off-farm income, average annual income from milk, and average annual income from livestock sales of these Prosopis invaded households were decreased by 39.65%, 39.02%, 48.1 % and 16 % respectively. The results of sensitivity analysis indicated that identified impacts were untainted impacts of the Prosopisinvasion. Generally, the study results revealed that, Prosopis highly attacks the pasture and agricultural land in the study area which had negative impact on pastoralists' life and livelihoods.

Social scientists and ecologists have too often portrayed wolves as part of human-wildlife conflicts and have thereby construed them primarily as a problem. To counter this view it is necessary to rethink human-wolf relationships by considering wolves as part of human life-worlds rather than just focusing on situations of conflict. I will draw on a case study of the Mongolian Tuva to show the complexity of relationships that animal herders may have with wolves, although their very existence is threatened by the predators. For the Tuva, wolves are predators, prey, sacred animals, healers, as well as neighbours. The underlying relational approach used in this article suggests that the meanings attributed to the wolf by the Tuva are not necessarily shaped by the media and other forms of public discourse, but develop through encounters with real wolves. Thus the animals themselves shape how they are conceived.

- by Thorsten Gieser
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- Anthropology, Social Anthropology, Human-Animal Relations, Animal Studies

Despite the long historical and archaeological record of interaction between Mongol herders and Chinese agriculturalists, pastoralists in Mongolia and Inner Mongolia have resisted pressure to adopt subsistence economies dependant on the cultivation of plant foods. While some evidence suggests that many of these steppe regions are more ecologically suited to herding than farming, their northern frontiers have proven to be agriculturally viable. Therefore, the persistent resistance to sedentary agricultural modes of production should be traced to long‐standing cultural values at odds with sedentism and agricultural toils. By considering several lines of evidence, including environmental limitations and the constraints of pastoralist land‐use, Mongol resistance to the adoption of cultivation is seen as having been driven by the development of ideological systems incompatible with the adoption of agriculture.

This thesis concerns dynamics of contemporary pastoralism in Ferlo, Senegal. Recent research sug-gests mobility to be one of the most important principles of pastoralism. However, it cannot be under-stood on its own; therefore, pastoral mobility is studied in the broader context of livelihood strategies. At the methodological level, the aim is to develop methods for collecting and understanding data on pastoral mobility. The thesis consists of an introductory chapter, a chapter called ‘research setting’, five individual papers, and a concluding chapter. While the papers can be read individually, the intro-ductory chapters, and the conclusion concern the thesis ‘as a whole’. As there has been a change of philosophical stance during the research process, these chapters are important for providing a frame-work for the thesis and for understanding the choices made.
First, implications of the ‘new rangeland paradigm’ are discussed with special emphasis on implica-tions for understanding pastoral mobility in Paper A. Pastoral mobility provides flexible utilisation of variable natural resources and can mitigate the effects of unforeseen events such as bush fires. This point has been advocated in the past, mainly by anthropologists, but with the new paradigm a coherent theory exists in which pastoral mobility as a flexible strategy can be understood. The argument is illustrated by an example from Ferlo, which shows how a development project hampered pastoral mobility. Further, it is shown how pastoralists themselves use mobility for balancing variability in natural resources.
The methodology applied for the rest of the papers is outlined in Paper B. The paper argues for a new conceptualisation of the use of rural areas, namely through the study of the relation between practice and values of individual actors. This conceptualisation emphasises a combination of methods analys-ing both quantitative and qualitative data with due consideration to the philosophical stance. The ben-efit of analysing both practice and values is shown in two examples. It is concluded that studies of practice and values of individual actors can contribute to our understanding of the use of rural areas in both developed and developing countries and hence revitalise agricultural geography.
Paper C has a dual objective; first to investigate the methodological potential of using GPS; second to discuss the analytical use of GPS data for understanding mobility. It is shown that the methodological potential for using GPS is related to quantifying mobility and characterising the mobility patterns. The paper concludes that from an analytical point of view, the GPS data can be used in combination with qualitative information to make triangulation. Qualitative information is a valuable help for interpret-ing GPS data. The GPS data can be used prior to qualitative interviews to make informed questions about mobility and they can be used after qualitative investigations to illustrate points made or show inconsistencies.
The widespread notion of Sahelian pastoralists as destitute and powerless is challenged in Paper D. It is shown how a diversity of pastoral livelihood strategies exists in Ferlo. Depending on the possibili-ties and preferences of a household, a certain strategy, or combination of strategies, is chosen and this may change from one year to another. Four ideal types of pastoral livelihood strategies are developed: ‘the traditional pastoralist’, ‘the Tabaski pastoralist’, ‘the commercial pastoralist’, and ‘the non-herding pastoralist’. These illustrate that pastoralists in Ferlo have managed to make the most of mar-ket opportunities while maintaining their ‘pastoral way of life’. Issues such as identity, ethnicity, and religion are important for the pastoral way of life and affect the different livelihood strategies.
Finally paper E provides a more complex understanding of pastoral mobility than the one offered by the new rangeland paradigm. It is argued that mobility should be analysed in the context of livelihood strategies and that attention should be paid to pastoralists’ perceptions of mobility. On the basis of the field studies from Senegal, analytical entry points for discussing mobility in a broader context are outlined. These entry points are used as inspiration for developing the so-called ‘mobility complex’.

La mia tesi di laurea analizza la percezione e gli effetti sociali che il ritorno del lupo ha scatenato nelle valli del cuneese tramite l'unione di due approcci: da una parte quello zootecnico e dall'altra quello socio-antropologico. Da questa ricerca emerge infatti come il lupo non possa essere analizzato semplicemente come un'animale, bensì come una sorta di simbolo che scatena e amplifica lo scontro e la contrapposizione: da una parte tra differenti sensibilità e categorie socio-culturali tipiche della nostra società post-moderna, e dall'altra tra differenti territori in seno a questa (urbanità/ruralità; pianura/montagna). Questa complessità intrinseca viene oltretutto complicata dalla condivisione del medesimo territorio di vita e di lavoro tra l'uomo e l'animale, oltre che dallo “sviluppo” e dalla diffusione presso le masse urbanizzate di un certo tipo di mentalità animal-ambientalista spesso totalmente staccata dalla natura vera e propria. A questo si va ancora sommando la forte contrapposizione tra le due categorie più interessate da questo fenomeno: da un parte quella dei tecnici del Life WolfAlps o più in generale dei parchi naturali che sono volti alla conservazione e alla protezione di questo canide, e dall'altra parte quella degli allevatori che sono in aperto conflitto con questo animale a causa delle ripercussioni che il loro lavoro ha subito. In questa situazione molto particolare si trovano collocate a metà le persone che vivono in contesto alpino e che si trovano spesso a dover parteggiare per una di queste due parti. Questo contesto molto particolare mi ha permesso così di analizzare come questo animale favorisca la formazione e la ridefinizione delle comunità locali – spesso sfilacciate e frantumate a seguito dello spopolamento dovuto alla modernizzazione e allo sviluppo della pianura circostante – e come permetta anche la nascita di una nuova forma di identità locale e sovra-locale.
Al fine di analizzare questa complessità ho unito un approccio di ricerca intensivo con un approccio di ricerca estensivo. Anzitutto ho intervistato alcuni pastori e allevatori delle valli cuneesi, alcuni tecnici del Progetto LIFE WolfAlps e del Parco delle Alpi Marittime e alcuni partecipanti ad una manifestazione pro-lupo svoltasi a Cuneo; dopodiché ho realizzato un questionario che ho diffuso via web col fine di captare le percezioni più generali all'interno della nostra società. A questi due approcci è stata poi integrata anche una ricerca relativa alla documentazione pro e contro il lupo prodotta negli anni, cercando in questo modo di giungere ad un'analisi che fosse il più possibile olistica e che permettesse l'emersione di tutte le posizioni e le prospettive relativamente a questo fenomeno.

Entre 1979 et 1980, j'ai eu l'occasion d'enquêter en Arabie saoudite dans le cadre d'une étude sur le « changement social » commandée à un important bureau d'études spécialisé dans ce qu'on appelait alors le développement : la Sedes. Cette enquête se déroula de la façon la plus chaotique de sorte que pas un seul des experts recrutés au départ n'alla jusqu'au rapport final rendu quatre ans plus tard… J'y fus moi-même raccroché dans une deuxième vague et, du fait de mes travaux antérieurs en Tunisie saharienne, j'ai été affecté à l'équipe censée s'occuper du monde bédouin. J'y trouvais les conditions de mon bonheur : le travail en enquête dans la badya des nomades me permettait déjà d'échapper tant à la vie confinée des quartiers résidentiels sécurisés (les compounds) qu'aux monotonies et aux rapports de classes assez raides que l'on vivait dans la capitale saoudienne, Riyad. Ces excursions loin du centre offraient une forme de liberté et la possibilité de conduire une recherche réelle dans une région fort peu fréquentée du monde arabe. J'étais habitué à des enquêtes mal financées, mal couvertes auprès des autorités, dans des États policiers qui commençaient à s'émanciper sérieusement de la tutelle coloniale. Le Français que j'étais malgré tout disposait pour une fois d'un véhicule tout-terrain et de possibilités de déplacements quasi illimitées, grâce à un interprète saoudien (mon dialectal tunisien achoppant rapidement chez les Bédouins) et, surtout, grâce à un précieux firman : une lettre de présentation signée par le ministère des Affaires sociales d'Arabie saoudite qui faisait merveille aux barrages de police et auprès des autorités des localités où il m'arrivait de stationner. Il me fut ainsi possible de réaliser plusieurs séjours d'enquête assez consistants. Il en sortit quelques rapports assez détaillés et même colorés, bien qu'ils figurassent dans cette catégorie des textes qui relèvent de ce qu'on appelle la littérature grise. Avec leurs tentes noires, leurs généalogies remontant parfois jusqu'à Adam, leur solidarité lignagère, leur pratique du pastoralisme nomade qui en font (pour l'attaque et la défense) de redoutables guerriers, leur poésie épique en arabe, sanctifiée par le prophète, leur caractère paradoxal aussi hospitalier que rapace, fanatique qu'agnostique, les Bédouins ont construit un modèle anthropologique qui s'est progressivement diffusé avec l'islam depuis la péninsule arabique vers l'ensemble des zones arides du Moyen-Orient et du Maghreb. Ce serait une erreur pourtant de les constituer comme un monde à part, en raison de leur position marginale par rapport aux États musulmans et coloniaux vis-à-vis desquels ils ont toujours occupé une place stratégique et symbolique. Il s'agit ici surtout d'en voir les réalités complexes fortement bousculées dans l'histoire mais aussi transfigurées en fantasmes tant de la part de voyageurs occidentaux que des intermédiaires musulmans qui leur servaient d'informateurs.

Pastoral nomadism is one of the most important elements of the Orkhon Valley Cultural Landscape. As an organically formed landscape that was crafted over centuries of nomadic life, it has greatly defined the Mongolian lifestyle not just inside the World Heritage Site but also of the entire country. After the Democratic Revolution of Mongolia in 1990, wherein the country entered the free-market economy and privatization of livestock was advocated, many traditional systems of pastoralism were no longer adopted. Several academic papers that focused on the issue of degradation of pastoral lands in Mongolia have come out in the last two decades to discuss such impacts. This paper would like to focus on providing possible solutions to preserve pastoral nomadism based on various resources related to nomadic people in other parts of the globe. It has been noted in other case studies that empowering pastoralists to continue with their traditions while providing support for their economic, social, educational, health and cultural situation improve their lives immensely. The paper would like to contribute to the discussion of cultural research on the topic of pastoral nomadism, consolidating the strategies that can improve the lives of these groups of people in Mongolia.

Pastoralism (Social Anthropology) Research Papers (original) (raw)