The Changing World of Mongolia's Nomads - Softcover

Goldstein, Melvyn C.; Beall, Cynthia M.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0520085515 ISBN 13: 9780520085510

Publisher: University of California Press, 1994

Synopsis

This beautifully illustrated book offers the first inside view of how the breakup of the Soviet bloc has affected this farthest republic and its nomadic peoples. The first Western scholars to be given permission to conduct fieldwork in Mongolia, Melvyn Goldstein and Cynthia Beall lived among a community of herders to study how they were adapting to Mongolia's transition to democracy and a market economy.

Weathering temperatures below zero, living in the nomads' ger, drinking suteytsai (milk-tea), eating bordzig (a pastry made from wheat dough) and pieces of solid fat (a Mongolian delicacy), Goldstein and Beall studied the seasonal migrations and traditional lifestyle of the nomads. They also watched as a herders' collective under the Marxist-Leninist system made the difficult transition to a shareholding company through the government's privatization reforms. The book's magnificent photographs and accompanying text introduce us to a proud people undergoing enormous change as their country emerges from years under communism. The Changing World of Mongolia's Nomads promises an engaging read for anyone interested in nomads, Mongolia, East and Central Asia, and the transformation of the Soviet Union.

About this title

About the Author:

Melvyn C. Goldstein and Cynthia M. Beall are Professors of Anthropology at Case Western Reserve University and the authors of Nomads of Western Tibet: The Survival of a Way of Life (California, 1990).

About this edition

• Publisher: University of California Press
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0520085515
• ISBN 13: 9780520085510
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 176