This Satellite Workshop will examine how pastoralists of various ecological, historical, political, and economic backgrounds have responded to modernization and globalization, and will discuss the potential and future of nomadic pastoralism in Eurasia and Africa.

Both ecological and anthropological researchers have considered nomadic pastoralism a rational production system, owing to its high adaptability to environmental changes. The principal factors that enable pastoralists to adapt to change are “mobility” and “flexibility.” The high mobility of humans and livestock supports a sustainable use of natural resources, and the flexibility illustrated in organizing social and political institutions and practicing pastoral production enhances efficient management of subsistence activities.

However, with the expansion of modernization and globalization, the trend of national governments and development organizations has been to treat "mobility" and "flexibility" as complicating factors, and to eliminate them from the policy-making process. For example, the growth of nationalism and the establishment of new national borders have restricted the movements of pastoralists and limited inter-ethnic communications. In some countries, socialist regimes have collectivized pastoralists and their livestock into animal husbandry cooperatives. Recent international development projects have also strongly triggered the sedentarization of pastoralists and privatization of rangeland and water resources.

This workshop has two presentation sessions and a panel discussion. In the first session, we will focus on how pastoralists manage their livestock, rangeland, and water resources under the influences of sedentarization, privatization, and commercialization. In the second session, we will examine the process of redefining ethnic identities and reorganizing social relations under national and global changes. Finally, in the panel discussion, both speakers and panelists will join together to comprehensively discuss how “mobility” and “flexibility” can be a positive power with regard to maintaining pastoral subsistence and reorganizing societies in response to modernization and globalization.