This course offers an introduction to thinking about different aspects of pastoralism based on the work of the PASTRES programme.
The lectures were initially presented as part of the training of the PASTRES PhD student cohort during 2019. They introduce key concepts, multiple cases and questions for debate on pastoralism, uncertainty and resilience.
This course is made available through support from the European Research Council (ERC) to the PASTRES project.
How to use this course
The course is suitable for students, practitioners and policymakers. You can listen to all 13 sessions, or dip into particular ones. To get an introduction, try listening to the first two lectures first.
Video lectures: Each session is around 30-40 mins, and consists of slides with lecture audio.
Questions: Each section has a short written introduction, plus suggested readings and questions. Think about the questions as you listen to the lecture – the aim is to get you to think about the places you work. How similar or different are they to the cases being discussed?
Readings: We have listed a few readings (mostly open access) for each section: don’t feel you have to read them to understand the lecture. If you want to pursue debates further, these are good places to start.
Course contents
1: Debating pastoral development
2: Herding through uncertainties
3: What is uncertainty, and why does it matter?
4: Uncertainty – thinking across fields
5: Non-equilibrium environments, rangeland management and climate change
6: Livestock production, feeding and disease
7: Land and property in pastoral areas
8: Resource ‘grabs’, investment and territory in pastoral areas
10: Class dynamics, social difference and changing social relations in pastoral areas
11: Poverty, livelihood vulnerability and disasters in pastoral areas
12: ‘Real markets’, commodity chains and economic valuation in pastoral areas
13: Conflict and governance in pastoral frontiers
Other background material
Background reading on pastoralism
For the full reference lists from the PASTRES sessions, see the full reading list.
There are of course potentially many, many more. For an archive of material on pastoralism and development by the PASTRES team and their networks, see the background reading page on this website. For more recent publications funded by the PASTRES programme, see the main Publications page.
For further reading suggestions, there is an online bibliography of work on pastoralism conducted by researchers from the Institute of Development Studies at Sussex. An open access archive issue of the IDS Bulletin has also been produced, with a new introduction written by the PASTRES team.
- Bibliography (PDF version / 17 MB)
- Bibliography (Online flipbook)
- IDS Bulletin (index of articles)
PASTRES Seminars
For further viewing, watch the seminars held at Sussex as part of the PASTRES course:
- Pastoralism in the Arabian Peninsula – Reflections on contemporary challenges and adaptations to land use rights with Dawn Chatty
- Disciplinary Diversification in Karamoja: The Case of Charcoal with Matteo Caravani
- Bringing moral economy into the study of land deals: reflections from Madagascar with Mathilde Gingembre
- Can pastoralists help us respond to global uncertainties? with Ian Scoones
Watch lectures on related themes
While not part of the PASTRES course, the following lectures by Ian Scoones include relevant themes for exploring further.
- Why embracing uncertainty means rethinking development and reimagining the future
- The Sustainable Development Goals: a new politics of transformation?
- Understanding policy processes
- Sustainable livelihoods and development
Photo credit (main banner): Palden Tsering
Pastoralism, Uncertainty and Resilience - PASTRES 