Natasha Maru worked with pastoralists in the Kutch region of Gujarat during her doctoral research with the PASTRES programme. In this video, she talks about the focus of her study and the methods she used, which pay attention to the relationships between mobility and time.
Natasha worked with a community of mobile pastoralists called the Rabari. They typically move around with their animals, choosing different locations to graze in summer, winter and the monsoon season. During her research, Natasha spent time with Rabari pastoralists on the move and in their overnight encampments.
Research on pastoralism often pays attention to the spaces that pastoralists inhabit. But pastoralists move through time as well as space.
Daily routines, seasonal patterns and animal life cycles are all part of the temporality of pastoral life. Understanding these temporal experiences can also help to explore how pastoralists interact and intersect with other actors and other systems.
Find out more
During her research, Natasha and the photographer Nipun Prabhakar worked with pastoralists to document their perspectives through photography. Photos and video taken by and with the pastoral community are collected in the online exhibition Seeing Pastoralism.
Moving through time and space (seeingpastoralism.org)
Pastoralism, Uncertainty and Resilience - PASTRES 
this is a brave and pioneering experience, Good work Natasha.
Did you happen to understand the different gender roles during their mobile period, from the time of deciding to move to settling and adjusting in the new area?
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Dear Amina, Thank you for your reply and encouragement! Yes I did understand the different gender roles during the migration journey. I am happy to elaborate more via email at n.maru@ids.ac.uk. Many thanks, Natasha
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