Overview
- Focuses on changes among nomadic pastoralists who are choosing to remain with their animals, rather than moving to towns
- Introduces multi-agented ethnography that examines not only nomadic perceptions of change but also change as planned and implemented by the Chinese government and international agencies
- Includes data from lesser-examined region of Tibet called Kham
Part of the book series: Studies in Human Ecology and Adaptation (STHE, volume 10)
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Table of contents (8 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
- Chinese state and international development organizations
- sale of animals as commodities
- relationships between nomads and outsiders
- qualitative changes to Tibetan nomadic pastoralism
- increased liberalization of market forces in Tibet
- ethnographic studies of Tibetan nomadic pastoralists
- theorizations of socio-environmental change
- adaptations in mountainous regions
About this book
Tibetan nomads have developed a way of life that is dependent in multiple ways on their animals and shaped by the phenomenological experience of mobility. These pastoralists have adapted to many changes in their social, political and environmental contexts over time. From the earliest historically recorded systems of segmentary lineage to the incorporation first into local fiefdoms and then into the Chinese state (of both Nationalist and Communist governments), Tibetan pastoralists have maintained their way of life, complemented by interactions with "the outside world".
Rapid changes brought about by an intensification of interactions with the outside world call into question the sustained viability of a nomadic way of life, particularly as pastoralists themselves sell their herds and settle into towns. This book probes how we can more clearly understand these changes by looking specifically at one particular area of high-altitude grasslands in the Tibetan Plateau.
Reviews
“Tan’s book is an ethnographically rich and analytically sharp examination of the contemporary social transformation that the nomadic pastoralists have been experiencing for the last several decades. It is well written and reflects her extensive knowledge of and profound theoretical engagement in her fields of study. This book is a must-read for scholars and graduate students working in the fields of political ecology, human ecology, rangeland studies, development studies, and contemporary Tibetan studies.” (Ga Errang, Human Ecology, Vol. 50, 2022)
“Gillian Tan’s Pastures of Change is a welcome addition to a growing body of literature that examines ongoing adaptations and transformations in the lives of contemporary nomadic pastoralists in Eastern Tibet. … Pastures of Change remains a valuable contribution to the literature on contemporary pastoralism in Eastern Tibet, and should be of broad interest to scholars interested in understanding ongoing patterns of statemaking in China.” (Kenneth Bauer, Nomadic Peoples, Vol. 23 (1), 2019)
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Gillian G. Tan is an anthropologist with research interests that cover 1) contemporary social and environmental changes on the Tibetan plateau, 2) human-nonhuman relationships among Tibetan nomadic pastoralists, and 3) theoretical and practical intersections between ecology and religiosity. She received her Ph.D from the University of Melbourne and has been a postdoctoral research fellow at the Laboratoire d'Anthropologie Sociale. Currently, she lectures in anthropology at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Deakin University in Geelong, Australia.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Pastures of Change
Book Subtitle: Contemporary Adaptations and Transformations among Nomadic Pastoralists of Eastern Tibet
Authors: Gillian G. Tan
Series Title: Studies in Human Ecology and Adaptation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76553-2
Publisher: Springer Cham
eBook Packages: Social Sciences, Social Sciences (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-76552-5Published: 07 May 2018
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-09521-5Published: 08 February 2019
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-76553-2Published: 26 April 2018
Series ISSN: 1574-0501
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XIII, 200
Number of Illustrations: 2 b/w illustrations, 13 illustrations in colour
Topics: Anthropology, Sustainable Development, Development Economics, Public Policy