MOBILE PEOPLES: PASTORALISTS AND HERDERS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 21ST CENTURY

Five books discussed here represent a broad sweep of studies on peoples who raise herds of domesticated animals and rely as much as possible on natural graze and browse. They are mainly mobile pastoralists rather than settled agriculturalists. Many of the world's pastoralists today find themselves in situations of marginality, economic impoverishment, and cultural vulnerability. The fundamental strength of these peoples is their adaptability, resilience, and resistance to unwanted transformations. Ideologies favoring either sedentary or mobile lifestyles, and not mere ecological constraints, have heavily influenced decisions leading to the current situation among mobile peoples.