[Discussion] PUBL.- Peter Finke, Nomaden im Transformationsprozess

[sule tarakcioglu]

Van'da d=FCzenlenmis olan "T=FCrk(iye) K=FClt=FCrleri" sempozyumuna katil=
mis ve
halen ODT=DC'de ders vermekte olan Peter Finke'nin, Almanya'da kitabi
yayimlandi:

Nomaden im Transformationsprozess. Kasachen in der post-sozialistischen
Mongolei
LIT-Verlag, M=FCnster (Reihe: K=F6lner ethnologische Studien 29)
ISBN: 3-8258-6964-4, 400 S., 29.90 EUR

Central-Eurasia-L - Announcement List for Central Eurasian Studies'in
kitap hk. Ingilizce olarak verdigi bilgi:

This book is the result of long-term field research among Kazak
pastoralists in western Mongolia. It addresses in particular the local
procedure of de-collectivisation and its economic and social impacts. As
other parts of Central Asia, Mongolia experienced dramatic changes in
the course of the dissolution of the socialist system. This affected all
sectors of society but the Kazaks as the largest minority in the country
were a case in particular.

Pastoral nomadism in Mongolia experienced a part-revival as a
consequence of the decline of living standards in the towns. This was
less so among the Kazaks where urban dwellers would rather migrate to
Kazakstan. At the same time, the growing influx of Mongolian herders
into Kazak-populated regions poses serious problems both for the
maintenance of social networks as well as for a balanced usage of
natural resources, primarily pasture lands. This is particularly the
case in multi-ethnic settings like the one described in this study.

The book discusses how the pastoralists in the research setting cope
with these changes and the new institutional arrangements that emerge
out of this. One major problem, as with many post-socialist societies,
is the low degree of mutual trust and cooperation encountered. The
author argues that this is mainly a consequence of the retreat of local
institutions in socialist times when state institutions took over many
of their functions. Today, with the disappearance of the latter,
informal institutions, based on kinship, neighbourhood and the like,
would have to regain previous importance again. Their reliability,
however, has been severely undermined. Acting within these institutional
frames depends on the experience that they will actually work when
needed. As these mutual expectations do often not exist, people rather
do not trust in them.

(Dr. Peter Finke is visiting assistant professor at the Middle East
Technical University, Department of Sociology, Ankara/Turkey, and
associated researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Social
Anthropology, Halle/Germany.)

Table of contents:

1: Theoritical and methodological approach
2: Kazaks in western Mongolia: historical and ethnographical background
3: The Xovd-sum in the Mongolian Altay: ecology, population, and
infrastructure
4: Economic changes: property rights, risk factors, and individual
strategies
5: Settlement, pasture usage and territoriality: the re-organisation of
    migratory cycles and pasture rights
6: Social and inter-ethnic relations: seeking for new institutions of
    cooperation and conflict resolution
7: Conclusion: post-socialist transformation as an institutional process

The book can be obtained from:

LIT-Verlag
Telephone: +49 (0)251 235091
Fax: +49 (0)251 231972
Website: www.lit-verlag.de
Email: lit@lit-verlag.de

Anett Kirchhof, Library assistant
Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology
Library
Advokatenweg 36
06114 Halle/S.
Germany

E-mail: akirch@eth.mpg.de
Tel.: (0345)2927-431
Fax: (0345)2927-502