The course „Pastoral Communities in Contemporary China“ will introduce students into the life of several groups in China, which engage in mobile pastoralism, with focus on the social, cultural, economic and environmental issues these communities are currently facing, mainly in connection to the current speed development in China. Primarily students of Asian Studies and Anthropology will benefit from the course.

The Inner Asian pastoral communities have developed disctinct ways of life and unique cultures with features that sharply distinguish them from the sedentary agricultural communities, such as strongly conservative attitude towards the natural environment. Within the traditional perspective of Chinese culture, the mobile pastoral communities have been viewed as „backward“ in comparison to the sedentary communities in China’s lowlands. This perspective still persists in contemporary China. One of the aims of China’s current development policy is thus to modernise the pastoral areas and change the life style of the pastoralists. Development and attachment of pastoral areas placed mainly on China‘s periphery is essential for various strategic reasons reaching from economic development to state security. Since the turn of the century, the pastoral communities are thus experiencing changes, which affect all aspects of their lives and livelihoods.

In a series of lectures, the course will introduce the established ways of life and important features of culture of four pastoral communities residing in contemporary China: the Tibetans, the Mongols, the Kazakhs and the Evenkis. We will then look into the strategies of the state aiming at pastoralists‘ inclusion into the general Chinese society, and discuss the impact the ongoing transformation of pastoral areas and animal husbandry in general has on the established social and economic structures of pastoral communities. Together with the strategies of the state, we will also reflect the reactions and adaptation strategies of the pastoralists. Importantly, as pastoral communities depend on the nature for living and are thus strongly connected to the environment they inhabit, the course will also discuss the relationship of both the traditional husbandry and modernization to the ecosystems.

Pastoral Communities in Contemporary China – Winter 23/24, Friday 10:50-12:25

Guarantor: Jarmila Ptáčková, Czech Academy of Sciences

Session 1 October 6, 2023 (Friday 10:50-12:25)

Imperial China and the mobile volks of Central Asia

During the imperial period, China on its periphery had a frequent contact with mobile volks inhabiting grassland areas in China’s west and north. In the official narrative of China, these nomadic people were considered “barbarians“, who admired the ”civilization“ of China`s central plains. During the different periods, Chinese imperial court maintained contact with the nomadic communities, in the peaceful times it was trade and exchange. More often, however, the nomadic tribes endangered Chinese peripheries and at certain times were able even to take over the rule over the whole of China.

Session 2 October 13, 2023 (Friday 10:50-12:25 10:50-12:25)

Traditional pastoral livelihoods on the High Plateau: Tibetan pastoral communities

Tibetans are well known for their pastoral tradition, which is in areas of high altitude the only livelihood option. The mobility of the pastoralists, however, was controlled by elaborated mechanisms of land use organised in every community. This lecture will provide insight into the traditional pastoralist patterns of land use, animal husbandry and connection between the pure pastoral, semi-pastoral and agricultural communities in Tibet before 1950.

Session 3 October 20, 2023 (Friday 10:50-12:25 10:50-12:25)

Pastoral ideology – Example of the Mongols

(Veronika Zikmundová, FF UK)

Throughout history, the “nomadic“ way of life has attracted the attention of the sedentary peoples in various ways, resulting, among others, in descriptions and images of what was the supposed essence of “nomadism“. The lecture will introduce some of the theoretical frameworks within which the nomadic pastoralists of Mongolia and Inner Eurasia have been seen in China and the West, and their further implications in Europe and Asia, including their impact on the pastoralists themselves. As a case study, we will discuss the self-image of the modern pastoralists in Mongolia and Inner Mongolia and the influence of the “pastoralist ideology“ on their self-presentation.

Session 4 October 27, 2023 (Friday 10:50-12:25)

Kazakh pastoral community

(Mayinu Shanatibieke, Minzu University Beijing)

Kazakhs are among major traditionally mobile communities of China. They reside mainly in the north-western areas of today’s China. This lecture will focus on the Kazakh pastoral patterns and their social ties with the sedentary population in farming areas of north-western China (today’s Xinjiang autonomous region). The presenter will address issues of Chinese state modernisation efforts as well, and focus on their impact of the Kazakh pastoral community.

Session 5 November 3, 2023 (Friday 10:50-12:25)

Mongol pastoral communities in contemporary China

(Veronika Zikmundová, FF UK)

Mongol groups inhabit several provinces of northern China: In addition to the autonomous regions of Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang, historically important Mongol groups of considerable size live in the provinces Heilongjiang, Jilin, Gansu and Qinghai. Despite their common origin and a shared traditional economic base – mobile pastoralism - the impact of contacts with sedentary population and the nuances of state policies, as well as the survival strategies, differ among the individual groups. The lecture will give an overview of the Mongol pastoralist groups in China and discuss the different developments in the course of the recent sedentarization process.

Session 6 November 10, 2023 (Friday 10:50-12:25)

Pastoral challenges in the Shimshal Pamir

(Hermann Kreutzmann, Free University Berlin)

Within the Karakoram valleys Shimshal is among the favourably endowed communities when it comes to pasture resources in the Chinese borderlands. Challenging accessibility conditions, border disputes and declining availability of pastoral workforce characterise the frame conditions during the past century. In light of geopolitical and socioeconomic challenges the role of pastoralism for Shimshal’s community and economy are analysed in relation to dynamic processes of adaptation and reorganisation. The case of Shimshal sheds some light on the significant differences of pastoral practices in the China-Pakistan borderlands.

Session 7 November 24, 2023 (Friday 10:50-12:25)

Civilizing landscapes and peoples. State development projects on the High Plateau. Infractructure development

The current official discourse in China still considers traditional pastoral livelihoods as „backward“ in contrast to the sedentary way of life. This premise gives the Chinese government the mandate to „civilize“ these communities and introduce modernisation to the pastoral landscapes and among pastoral communities. Since the 21st century large financial means were allocated to develop the High Plateau as well as other grassland areas in China`s west and north. For the pastoral communities, this policy brought far-reaching changes to all aspects of their lives and livelihoods.

Major development policies aiming at development of China`s grassland areas will be introduced here. In the first stage, infrastructure was provided to enable further development of urban areas, access to natural resources and to the pastoral people inhabiting the sofar remote parts of China.

Session 8 December 1, 2023 (Friday 10:50-12:25)

Change and Adaptation among the Evenki Pastoralists of Inner Mongolia (Aurore Dumont, Ecole des hautes études en sciences sociales, Paris)
This lecture is dedicated to the social changes that occurred among the different groups of Evenki people from the beginning of the 20^th century to the present day. We will see how these pastoral groups have adjusted their pastoral way of life to a changing social and political environment, taking specific case studies as examples.

Session 9 December 8, 2023 (Friday 10:50-12:25)

Grazing and overgrazing: How to detect the human footprint in grasslands of Central Asia (Georg Miehe, Philipps Universitaet Marburg)
Central Asian grasslands are part of the Neocene climate and landscape history. They are disturbance adapted habitats of game, burrowing small mammals and pastoralists. They are considered precipitation-controlled and at risk of degradation. Overgrazing and desertification are terms often used as consequences of