The End of Nomadism?: Society, State, and the Environment in Inner Asia

by Caroline Humphrey, David Andrews Sneath

Those who herd in the vast grassland region of Inner Asia face a precarious situation as they struggle to respond to the momentous political and economic changes of recent years. In The End of Nomadism? Caroline Humphrey and David Sneath confront the romantic, ahistorical myth of the wandering nomad by revealing the complex lives and the significant impact on Asian culture of these modern “mobile pastoralists.” In their examination of the present and future of pastoralism, the authors recount the extensive and quite sudden social, political, environmental, and economic changes of recent years that have forced these peoples to respond and evolve in order to maintain their centuries-old way of life.
Using extensive and detailed case studies comparing pastoralism in Siberian Russia, Mongolia, and Northwest China, Humphrey and Sneath explore the different paths taken by nomads in these countries in reaction to a changing world. In examining how each culture is facing not only different prospects for sustainability but also different environmental problems, the authors come to the surprising conclusion that mobility can, in fact, be compatible with a modern and urbanized world. While placing emphasis on the social and cultural traditions of Inner Asia and their fate in the post-Socialist economies of the present, The End of Nomadism? investigates the changing nature of pastoralism by focusing on key areas under environmental threat and relating the ongoing problems to distinctive socioeconomic policies and practices in Russia and China. It also provides lively contemporary commentary on current economic dilemmas by revealing in telling detail, for instance, the struggle of one extended family to make a living.
This book will interest Central Asian, Russian, and Chinese specialists, as well as those studying the environment, anthropology, sociology, peasant studies, and ecology.

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 11, 1999

Reviews

[Yana Bezirganova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insightful comparative study of the contemporary mobile pastoralism in Inner Asia. Authors have arrived to practical solutions of the problems that herd-owners have been facing since the beginning of privatisation and during the collectivist period, stressing the importance of local knowledge and experience in implementing such solutions. The main solution is to increase mobility rather than decrease it, which, of course, comes with a lot of socio-political implications for the regions. For example, large scale institutions that can ensure the rotation of herds on pastures and provide herders with social and technological support are considered by authors to be of crucial importance. However, introduction of such institutions can be seen by some as coming back to the years of collectivisation. Authors stress that they are not suggesting that, and that there are other ways in which such large institutions can be introduced or developed. Overall, this book is of crucial importance to people interested in economic development of Inner Mongolian regions, however might disappoint readers who are looking for a romanticised depiction of ‘nomads’ roaming the steppes.

[Kenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent study on the life of contemporary herders in Inner Asia. Rather than discussing some sort of timeless 'nomad,' Humphrey, Sneath, and the other contributors look at region by region basis the herding strategies and methods used, the impact on the environment, and the roles of the respective governments. This study makes an excellent argument for the environmentally sustainable mobile pastoralism rather than the static herding that the Russian and Chinese governments have forced upon their subjects. Anyone studying or interested in the herders, environment or culture of Mongolia (independent and Inner), Siberia (particularly Buriatia and Tuva), Xinjiang or Tibet should read this book.