essay

The herding household: economy and organization

mongolia in transition (22) • Published In 1996 • Pages: 65-89

By: Bruun, Ole.

Abstract
In this chapter from the book 'Mongolia in Transition,' Bruun examines herding households' transition to a market economy. One-third of Mongolia's population are herders. With the economic crisis of the 1990s a substantial number of the urban population returned to a herding way of life and a pre-modern means of subsistence, in spite of diminished social services and deteriorating communications and infrastructure in rural areas. With decollectivization, herders have had to rely more on individual household labor and skills, which has led to a growing income disparity among households. Bruun looks at household division of labor and the small household labor-sharing group, the AIL, which has survived. He also notes that few spontaneous organizations have emerged to replace the larger cooperative groups. Bruun discusses household budgets in the second part of the chapter, as well as, markets, corporate organizations, the communication system, and social services.
Subjects
Annual cycle
Pastoral activities
Production and supply
Income and demand
Division of labor by gender
Standard of living
Household
culture
Mongolia
HRAF PubDate
2006
Region
Asia
Sub Region
Central Asia
Document Type
essay
Evaluation
Creator Type
Ethnographer
Document Rating
4: Excellent Secondary Data
5: Excellent Primary Data
Analyst
Ian Skoggard ; 2005
Field Date
unknown
Coverage Date
1987-1994
Coverage Place
Mongolia
Notes
Ole Bruun
Includes bibliographical references
LCCN
97101609
LCSH
Mongolia