Zud and Educational Opportunities in Mongolia
(66th Annual Meeting of the PIAC Göttingen, 2024)
When talking about Mongolian identity, the so-called ‘nomadism’ plays a prominent role. But what social significance is attached to mobile pastoralism when it is not discussed as an abstract element of cultural heritage, but with regard to specific problems of people living today? In spring of 2024, Mongolia was hit by a zud-catastrophe. Zud is also known in other regions of the Eurasian steppes. In Mongolia, more than 7 million grazing animals died as a result of the recent disaster. After briefly describing the characteristics of the catastrophic event in view to this year’s manifestation, we give examples of how different social groups assessed this emergency situation and how they reacted. Using discourse analysis, we identified what kind of views on mobile herding are common in post-socialist Mongolia when it comes to questions of support, and how these are expressed and framed.
Educational institutions are important factors in this, and many of them have a long tradition of solidarity with herders in times of need. In order to find out what the current situation is, how zud specifically affects educational processes and prospects and how members and target groups of schools and universiites position themselves, we conducted surveys in March 2024 in which almost 1,000 people took part. From the results, much can be learned about the current interdependencies of education and pastoralism in Mongolia, but also about future prospects for the ‘nomadic way of life’.