Nomadic Pastoralism: A (Tentative) Definition – Pastoralism, Climate Change and Policy

In the early days, research was all about establishing typologies. So also in the study of nomadic pastoralism, which was concerned with establishing typologies of “pure pastoralists or nomads” where the units of analysis were “ideal types”[1]. Pastoral and nomadic societies were classified according to how much of the “ideal types” they contained. Not surprisingly, the concept of “pure pastoralists or nomads” is fictional; rather, nomadic pastoralism as an adaptation is characterized by variations[2]. The Norwegian anthropologist Fredrik Barth[3] argued that we have to look for processes that produce social forms by seeing a society as patterns of human behaviour. Following this line of thought, Dyson-Hudson and Dyson-Hudson[4] conceptualizes nomadic pastoralism as the coexistence of dependence on livestock with spatial mobility. More specifically, Khazanov[5] presents five characteristics of nomadic pastoralism: Following this definition, nomadic pastoralism is a distinct form of fo

24. September 2013 16. May 2023 Marius Warg Næss In the early days, research was all about establishing typologies. So also in the study of nomadic pastoralism, which was concerned with establishing typologies of “pure pastoralists or nomads” where the units of analysis were “ideal types” [1] . Tibetan pastoralists Pastoral and nomadic societies were classified according to how much of the “ideal types” they contained. Not surprisingly, the concept of “pure pastoralists or nomads” is fictional; rather, nomadic pastoralism as an adaptation is characterized by variations [2] . The Norwegian anth

related reading

• Living Off Uncertainty: The Intelligent Animal Production of Dryland Pastoralists | The European Journal of Development Research | Springer Nature Linklink.springer.com
• 2: Herding through uncertainties – Pastoralism, Uncertainty and Resilience – PASTRESpastres.org
• Collections: That Dothraki Horde, Part II: Subsistence on the Hoof – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantryacoup.blog
• Nadia Asparouhova | Mapping out the tribes of climatenadia.xyz
• Rethinking livestock encroachment at a protected area boundarystatic1.squarespace.com
• Field sites – Pastoralism, Climate Change and Policypastoralism-climate-change-policy.com
• Our Indigenous Land is Not a Wasteland Huatse Gyal - American Ethnological Societyamericanethnologist.org
• Yak and Tibetan sheep trampling inhibit reproductive and photosynthetic traits of Medicago ruthenica var. inschanicalink.springer.com
• Restoring Mobility and Connectivity for Livestock, Wildlife, and Peoplelink.springer.com
• Landscape | Open Encyclopedia of Anthropologyanthroencyclopedia.com
• Themes | Animal movement in social-ecological systems — Translational Movement Ecology @ UMASSxuology.org
• Christian Sorace & David Sneath, Steppe Transitions, NLR 159, May–June 2026newleftreview.org