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Research Project Introduction
- Project title
- Adaptive Capacity of Pastoral Resource Users in Mongolia: Situated Knowledges and Practices
- Researcher
- Eric D. Thrift
- Home Institution
- The University of Manitoba, Department of Anthropology
- Local Partner Organizations
- Mongolian Ministry of Food, Agriculture, and Light Industry (Ulaanbaatar)
- Dornogobi Museum and Centre for Training and Research (Sainshand, Dornogobi aimag)
- Yero'o' Sum Local Studies Centre (Yero'o' sum, Selenge aimag)
- Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, School of Social Science, National University of Mongolia (Ulaanbaatar)
- Sponsors
- Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
- Government of Manitoba
About this project
This research project on pastoral resource use in Mongolia is being conducted by Eric Thrift, a Canadian researcher and Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Manitoba, Canada. Mr. Thrift has worked in the development sector in Mongolia since 1998, in association with the University of Arts and Culture, the Mongolian National Commission for UNESCO, the World Bank, and other organizations. Mr. Thrift's current research is supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Government of Manitoba. This field research will last 12 months, beginning in July 2011.
This study focuses on the diverse ways that Mongolians make use of natural rangeland resources for livestock grazing, direct human consumption, and processing of secondary products such as meat, wool, felt, hides, and dairy products. The research will explore specifically how different individuals and groups are able to adapt their resource-use patterns in response to economic, social, and ecological change and uncertainty. The study will primarily focus on the experience of herders, but will also include interviews with other producers, merchants, consumers, policymakers, development workers, and other actors.
The research aims to provide a deepened understanding of "adaptive capacity" in the Mongolian pastoral sector, and how such capacity might be assessed and promoted in rangelands governance. The study is expected to contribute to our knowledge of the social-cultural dimensions of resource use—a theme that is gaining importance in the fields of development and natural resource management.
This field research project will involve the production of approximately 200 hours of audiovisual field recordings and interviews in two sites, in the Gobi (desert) and Xangai (forested steppe). These records will form the basis of an annotated digital archive, which will be made accessible to project participants, policymakers, and scholars in an effort to enable ethnographically grounded discussion of rangelands governace issues. Additionally, the project will lead to a doctoral dissertation and scholarly publications on adaptive capacity and environmental governance by Mr. Thrift.
Specific objectives and projected outcomes
No. |
Objective |
Outcomes |
1. Data collection |
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1.1 |
Using participatory methods, create audiovisual ethnographic records reflecting diverse contemporary resource-use practices among Mongolian pastoralists in two field sites. |
A digital database of 200 hours of annotated audiovisual ethnographic field recordings, in which approximately 50 different pastoralists show and discuss their everyday resource use practices. Records and annotations are indexed by resources, places, activities, and participants. |
1.2 |
Conduct ethnographic interviews with herders and other actors, exploring different actors' partial knowledge of pastoral resources, technologies, and other resource users, and how this knowledge affects strategic decisions. |
Recorded interviews with approximately 100 herders, development workers, government officials, entrepreneurs, and scientists engaged in the pastoral economy or rangelands governance. |
2. Analysis |
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2.1 |
Assess the relationship of Mongolian pastoralists' resource use practices to social and ecological structuring factors. |
Comparative analysis of pastoralists' resource-use practices, in relation to different types and levels of access to natural resources, ecological and technical knowledge, social capital (kinship), and symbolic capital. |
2.2 |
Analyse the nature of conscious decision-making and habitual practices underlying Mongolian pastoralists' tactical activities. |
Analysis of Mongolian pastoralists' everyday production practices in relation to strategic and tactical goals, and to implicit knowledge. |
3. Accessibility and application |
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3.1 |
Make ethnographic records accessible to study participants and to other potentially interested actors. |
Digital archive of ethnographic recordings and other research products, with both online access and offline distribution through local libraries in project sites. |
3.2 |
Develop a framework for grounded, comparative discussion of resource use knowledge and practices among Mongolian policymakers, academics, and resource users. |
Mongolian-language virtual forum, for discussion of policy and governance issues grounded in commentary on ethnographic records, with invited contributions by research participants and Canadian scholars. |
3.3 |
Offer specific policy recommendations for supporting social-ecological resilience through the assessment and promotion of adaptive capacity. |
Synthesis of research results including policy recommendations, with references to relevant theoretical literature and to current policy debates in Mongolia, distributed to project participants and formally submitted to the Mongolian Ministry of Food and Agriculture. |
Contact
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: |
RESEARCH ADVISOR: |