Rural Transitions in Mongolia and Central Asia (forthcoming)

Pastoralism, Wellbeing and Economic Relations

Ariell Ahearn, Tory Sternberg, Gantulga Munkherdene and Takahiro Ozaki (eds)

Focusing on pastoral and rural communities, this volume highlights ongoing transitions in rural Central Asia. Informed by in-depth case studies from Mongolia, Buryatia and Kyrgyzstan, the essays focus on themes in contemporary pastoralism, including the adaptation and resilience of rural pastoralist livelihoods during and after the Covid-19 pandemic; healing, food and wellbeing, including an examination of rural experiences of wellbeing and the re-invention and revival of traditional foods; and economic relations, including changing spatialisation of labour spurred by mineral extraction, the role of digital media and urban-rural dynamics. The volume presents insights into contemporary human geography and anthropology of the Inner Asian region; highlights the ongoing importance of scholarship on rural places; and offers a critical lens on broader processes of change affecting the region. A collaboration between scholars spanning Japan, Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, the UK and the USA, the volume showcases work by diverse authors with longstanding engagement in Inner Asia.

THE EDITORS

Ariell Ahearn is a human geographer researching the spatial politics of development, environmental governance and mobile pastoralism. She is an academic activist, working closely with rural pastoralists and human rights NGOs in Mongolia to secure legal safeguards for herders facing forced eviction, destruction of cultural and spiritual sites and discrimination.

Gantulga Munkherdene is a Ph.D. candidate in Geography at the School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford. He is Executive Secretary of the Mongolian Anthropological Association. Prior to joining Oxford, he was Senior Lecturer in the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, National University of Mongolia.

Takahiro Ozaki is a professor at Kagoshima University, Japan, specialising in anthropology and Inner Asian area studies, mainly using quantitative social research as a methodology. He carries out comparative study on changes in pastoral strategies in Outer and Inner Mongolian pastoral societies. His major work is a book on Pastoral Strategies in Modern Mongolia: Comparative Ethnography of Regime Transformation and Natural Disaster.

Troy Sternberg. Extensive travel has inspired Troy’s research on desert regions, environments and people. His Ph.D. focused on pastoral environments in the Gobi Desert. A geographer at the University of Oxford, he continues to explore desert themes through research in Mongolia, Central Asia and across global drylands. His publications, academic exchanges and the Oxford Desert Conference series highlight contemporary changes and challenges in dryland areas.

CONTENTS

Table of contents to follow.

Publication date
ISBN 978-1-912186-91-4 (PB) £25
eISBN 978-1-912186-92-1 (Open Access eBook)