Herd It in the Gobi: Deserting Pastoralism?

Sternberg, Troy; Mayaud, Jerome R.; Ahearn, Ariell

doi:10.3390/land11060799

Cited by 7 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Similarly, the performativity of economic and trade development declarations, data and documentation as well as major contexts and macro concepts are emphasised over everyday practices. We learn of Oyu Tolgoi as one of the world's largest mines (Sternberg et al 2022), how Mongolia will be the next Qatar (Economist 2012) and China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) $4.9 billion investment in Mongolia (Byambajav 2019) but not the aggregate implications for society, livelihoods and long-term viability. The IMF's $5.5 billion bailout is covered but the underlying causes and crises that generated the loan are little remarked in the literature (Seeberg 2019).…”

Section: Introduction 'I Have Never Been So Happy To Be Mongolian'mentioning

confidence: 99%

Pastoral Khans: from Mongolian Steppe to African Savannah

Sternberg

Pinho

Batbuyan³

2022

Mong. j. int. aff.

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The developing field of Mongolian International Studies offers a diverse range of research topics. A review of recent articles reflects an emphasis on geo-politics, particularly evolving relations with its superpower neighbours. Whilst state-to-state engagement with China and Russia predominates, regional countries (Japan, Korea) and the US and Europe are examined within the ‘Third Neighbour’ policy. Trade and economics are also studied, from Oyu Tolgoi and mining to the role of the IMF and international agencies. Currently lacking is a focus on human-driven engagement that reflects Mongolian livelihoods, spirituality and community environments. Such social and cultural dynamics are essential to both pastoral and rural livelihoods and to understanding the nation. In 2020-2022 international academic endeavours enabled Mongolian herder representatives to participate in a global drylands exchange network with dryland residents in thirteen countries. The process provided an exceptional opportunity to present Mongolian perspectives to pastoralists and academics from Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia. This grounded Mongolian livelihoods and situated rural dynamics in a global context. Here we report key engagements and findings as Mongolian herders shared lives and practices in the context of this international pastoral/drylands project. Moving beyond the political/economic rubric, as this project did, delivers a more representative and complete comprehension of Mongolia to the global international studies community.

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Section: Introduction 'I Have Never Been So Happy To Be Mongolian'mentioning

confidence: 99%

Pastoral Khans: from Mongolian Steppe to African Savannah

Sternberg

Pinho

Batbuyan³

2022

Mong. j. int. aff.

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“…It has also been discussed critically by whose study on the Oyu Tolgoi mine illustrates how, in the political decisions surrounding the project, multiple meanings of water were conflated into one single, technical-managerial notion of 'modern water'. The decision-making processes surrounding Oyu Tolgoi and its social-environmental impacts have been critically discussed by Meesters and Behagel (2017), Sternberg et al (2022), and Ahearn and Sternberg (2022). Works by Jackson (2015), Myadar and Jackson (2019), and Bumochir…”

Section: V2 Mining and Water Resources Control And Allocation In Mong...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Negotiating the nature of water- and miningscapes

Schoderer

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This thesis disentangles the complex dynamics of water and mining conflicts, seeking to understand how environmental (in)justices related to the water use of mining companies emerge and can be addressed. To do so, it focusses on institutions that regulate water use and natural resource extraction, discourses that legitimize and normalize certain social-environmental actions while rendering others unconceivable, and practices of governing the intersection of water and mining. Specifically, it pursues the following questions: 1. What are the factors or combinations of factors that explain how water and mining conflicts develop and evolve, according to existing academic literature? 2. What are the transnational institutional regimes that govern mining-related water use? Which forms of water use do they recognize and into which discourses are they embedded and gain authority from? 3. How do institutional legacies, discourses and political economic or material contexts impact efforts to (re)shape water- and miningscapes via the implementation of water protection legislation or provisions for public participation? 4. How do notions of ‘appropriate’ social-environmental interactions emerge through the interplay of different rationalities and how do they articulate themselves in practices of governing water and mining? 5. What are the conceptual and practical implications of these findings for the pursuit of environmental justice? How can (contested) institutions, discourses and practices be researched and (re)shaped to promote just social-environmental interactions? Questions 1-4 are answered in the main body of the thesis (Chapters 2-5), while the concluding chapter (Chapter 7) addresses the final question. The thesis moves from global dynamics and rule-setting to place-based interactions and meanings, placing a geographical focus on Mongolia. It applies a multi-method approach, combining systematic synthesis with in-depth, interpretative analyses and drawing on concepts from political ecology, institutional analysis, and post-structuralism. Water and mining conflicts emerge out of various combinations of social, cultural, and political-economic factors and require an integrated view capable of accounting for complex causality. Diverging water ontologies and a lack of opportunities to articulate and negotiate them, e.g. through participation processes, exacerbate contestation. However, participation processes can also be exclusionary and reify existing hierarchies, as their implementation depends on material contexts, historical (social and institutional) legacies and beliefs about authoritative knowledge and expertise. In addition, state officials charged with implementing institutional provisions are themselves embedded in cognitive-symbolic and social networks, as well as political economic and administrative structures that shape the accounts of existing reality, visions for the future, and incentives that influence their decisions. Understanding how governance practices emerge and shape water- and miningscapes thus requires disentangling ‘the state’ into individual actors. Finding ways to improve the recognition of and respect for ontological difference within institutional frameworks and governance practices remains a major challenge for the pursuit of environmental justice, as it affects how costs and benefits are distributed and procedures are implemented. In consequence, research on how institutional frameworks and governance practices for mining, water, and natural resources in general can better account for the multiplicity of natures and subjectivities is urgently needed.

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Mongolian mining engagement with SIA and ESG initiatives

Sternberg,

Ahearn

2023

Environmental Impact Assessment Review

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Herd It in the Gobi: Deserting Pastoralism?

Cited by 7 publications

References 41 publications

Pastoral Khans: from Mongolian Steppe to African Savannah

Pastoral Khans: from Mongolian Steppe to African Savannah

Negotiating the nature of water- and miningscapes

Mongolian mining engagement with SIA and ESG initiatives

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