Paper short abstract:

The aim of this presentation is to show a process that Mongolian pastoralists migrated. It is not a simple process of sedentarization in that they didn’t always move from rural area to urban and become urban dwellers. Mobility of various directions by various statuses helps sustain pastoral society.

Paper long abstract:

In Mongolia pastoralists tend to move between rural area and urban. It may be understood as sedentarization ordinarily, but it is not so simple. After the collapse of socialist system in Mongolia, the mobility between rural area and urban has been frequent. The process is not always from rural area to urban and the migrations of pastoralists cannot always be explained as a result of hardship caused by economic difficulties or damage from drought or cold weather.

Some pastoralists have managed to increase their livestock and have migrated to urban. The reasons of migration are to bear their children who attend school and to seek living environment for amenity against the dry circumstances. But they haven't engaged to work for wage mainly. They have made their living to sell their products from their livestock. To migrate to urban, they didn't sell all of their livestock. They became urban dwellers as absentee herd owners.

On the other hand, it means that they needed herders who stayed in rural area and raised their livestock. The task was undertaken by the "herds child". They had migrated to rural area away from home in childhood and become residential herdsmen. They have lived in the society for many years. On behalf of absentee herd owners, they have stayed at camps ordinarily. Moreover, the owners' children and brothers in aimag center have migrated to rural area or have stayed there for relatively long duration. Thus, new pastoralists have appeared and pastoral society has been sustained.