Nomads of South Siberia: The Pastoral Economies of Tuva

Cambridge Studies in Social Anthropology #25

by Sevyan Vainshtein, Michael Colenso (Translator), Caroline Humphrey (Editor)

There are few, if any, detailed first-hand accounts of Inner Asian pastoralism available to Western readers. Drawing on archival sources and his own extensive fieldwork Sevyan Vainshtein describes the economy of the nomadic pastoralists of Tuva, a region on the borders of Mongolia and the USSR. It is a detailed account of the migratory movements, the husbandry of the different herds, the reindeer economy and the hunting, fishing, agriculture and technology of the peoples of the region. Dr Vainshtein includes a section on the history and social structure of the nomads and reaches some conclusions on the rise of the State among the nomads of Central Asia. The main aim of the book is to acquaint readers with accurate and detailed field material on the economy of Inner Asian nomads - a subject which has invited much speculation hitherto, but usually on the basis of inadequate data. It will be invaluable to all anthropologists and to specialists in Soviet and Asian Studies.

Genres: Anthropology

299 pages, Hardcover

First published December 11, 1980

Reviews

[Bob Newman · Rating 4 out of 5]

one of the few translated works of Soviet anthropology

For centuries, Tuva languished unknown to the outside world. It became an independent country for about 25 years, until the Soviet Union swallowed it up in 1944. Before that, as a remote part of the Manchu or Mongol Empires, it had hardly impinged on the world's consciousness. Since 1991, it has been a (remote) part of Russia. If you want to read about Tuva in English, you really have a choice of four books. First, Ralph Leighton's "Tuva or Bust", second, Otto Manchen-Helfen's account of his trip in 1929, third, Theodore Levin's book on Tuva and its music, "Where Rivers and Mountains Sing", and fourth, the book under review here, NOMADS OF SOUTH SIBERIA, written in Russian in 1972 and published in English eight years later as part of a well-respected Cambridge University anthropology series. Of the four, this one is the most difficult to read because of two reasons. First, because it is an extremely detailed work of economic anthropology full of local terms, arcane details on herding, crafts, tools, hunting, and seasonal migrations, to name just a few topics. It is a painstakingly researched essay written with skill and patience. The second reason it is difficult is that the life of a Soviet anthropologist was frought with pitfalls. You couldn't say certain things; on the other hand you HAD to say certain other things. Therefore, you have to read between the lines to some extent.

I have given the book four stars because of the impressive research and assembly of data, not for readability. Vainshtein ties in his work to work among similar groups in Siberia and Central Asia (Nenets, Evenk, Kirghiz, Kazakh, Altaians, Oirot, Kalmyk, Mongols of various kinds). He tries to develop some ideas about origins of reindeer herding, about nomad life in general, nomads' relation to agriculture and craft production. It's a very thoughtful book, but definitely only for experts. Though he quotes Marx, Engels, and Lenin, he does not evince the slightest knowledge of any Western anthropologist writing on any topic. I believe such references would have been dangerous, if not for his life, at least for his career. Or maybe the books were unavailable to him. Though Vainshtein lived among the Tuvans, knew their language, and had many informants, Tuvans do not come through as people at all--they have almost no voice. It is all about their "system of production", down to whips, number of sheep and goats, saddles, fish traps, summer encampments, and collection of lily bulbs. A Soviet framework is placed on his data---questions about whether nomads can be considered `feudal' or not, whether exploitation existed, whether capitalism had begun or not, stem from this framework. Such Soviet phrases as "higher cultural level" may turn you off. Are the peoples of the world arranged along some Darwinian ladder ? This is really 19th century sociology.

What is most indicative of the political reality behind this narrowly-excellent work is that although Vainshtein spent at least 20 years getting to know the Tuvans, his book deals exclusively with the times before Tuva became part of the Soviet Union. He constantly refers to a 1931 census and conditions around the turn of the 20th century. He does not talk about his own impressions or experiences at all because he is an honest man. If he reported on what he saw in Tuva in the Fifties and Sixties, and it did not mirror the official Soviet line (Progress), he could have jeopardized his career. If he didn't tell the truth he would have lost his credibility. On the very last page (in a chapter called "Social Relations" that did not appear in the Russian edition), he states that everything he writes about has become "part of history" because Tuva has been transformed. He quotes that well-known anthropologist, V.I Lenin, once more, and then says that "an extremely successful transition from nomadic to settled forms of life" has taken place. It would be interesting to know how true this is. That a transformation took place is without doubt, the whole world has changed immensely---its success may be open to question. I wish we could read a later work by Vainshtein, a memoir, an extension of the present work, a revision. Does it exist ? I have no idea. This work is a guarded attempt to share a huge wealth of data gathered over many years.

[John Norton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vainshtein's work is an interesting one, and one provides a good ethnography of the Tuvan people. The research is backed by a plethora of sources, not to mention Vainshtein's own expeditions to the Republic of Tuva.

What's particularly interesting about this work is the description of the, at the time, rapidly changing societal structure of Tuva, something that's highlighted in the last section of the book. Anyone who is interested in the manifestation of nomadism as an economic and societal force, should give this book a read. Though the focus is areal, the details it highlights can extend further to other nomadic societies as well, as well as into the study of herding and agriculture as a subset of societal practices. It's a clear argument as to why we must accept agriculture and irrigation as an innate part of pastoralism.

The book heavily relies on the theory of the "economic cultural type", developed by Anthropologists Levin and Cheboksarov. This is a Marxist viewpoint, what's notable though, is that despite much Marxist Soviet Anthropology of the era, the book isn't necessarily focused on the definition of Tuvans as an ethnic group, rather, moreso focused on how specifically Tuvan nomadism expresses itself through production.

Maybe this presents an issue though. Many opinions within Vainshtein's work are voiced as being "through an informant" or as filtered through the work of other Anthropologists. This leads to actual Tuvan voices being obscured through more filters than perhaps necessary, though this might be a projection of the USSR's policies on advocacy for minorities at the time, especially discussions of "nomadic feudalism". At the very least, it appears that Vainshtein can separate himself from Lenin's views of the people of Siberia as "savages", something he hides cleverly near the end of the book. Either way, Vainshtein himself seems not to quote his own experiences over what has been explained to him, which is a good quality.

Overall, I'll say that most of the downfalls of this work are purely due to the Government it was published under, and not due to specific methods or theories. It's a well-researched and well-put together work, one that clearly distinguishes itself from most Western Anthropology, and which provides a clear statement that agriculture in nomadic society are in reality much more nuanced than western and Russian preconceptions would lead one to believe.