The Dictionary of Human Geography

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consciously developed and deliberately

deployed spatial strategy of eliminating real

or imagined differences – a method preferred

over other methods, including ‘mutuality/

consociation/power sharing’.

A comparison of partitions around the

world, from British India to Yugoslavia, from

Canada to Ireland, from Nigeria to Rwanda,

from the Soviet Union to Palestine, appears to

suggest that territory is, in fact, a crucial factor

in the process of disrupting and reshaping

states and loyalties. It is further revealed that

the process of partition cannot be reduced to a

state separation event (as in the cases of India

and Pakistan, Serbia and Croatia, Ireland and

Britain or potentially Canada and Quebec).

This process also has to deal with additional

regional sub-partitions, family divisions and

religious contrasts. Partitioning British India,

for instance, has generated a subsequent

partition of Punjab and Bengal. Similarly, the

partition of Yugoslavia has implied the sub-

partition of Istria, Krajinas and Sandzak, and

of Yugoslav populations and minorities.

Historically, there are very few examples of

partition where violence could be avoided.

Wherever and whenever partitions have been

implemented, a large-scale destruction of the

sociocultural landscape has invariably fol-

lowed. In the vast majority of cases, violence

becomes a determinant for reconfiguring pol-

itical societies, where territory (or geopolitics),

sources of loyalty and collective/individual

psychology are forced to reshape and modify.

To a certain extent, the stronger the pre-

existing ties, the greater is the deployment of

violence to construct new sources of identifi-

cations by redrawing maps. Among several

icons of ‘partitioned times’ on the Indian sub-

continent are millions of refugees who con-

tinue to live with bitter memories of loot,

plunder, rape and murder, and in whom such

memories live. sch

Suggested reading

Pandey (2001).

pastoralism Social and economic systems of

peoples who both practice and strongly iden-

tify with livestock husbandry (most commonly

of camels, cattle, goats and sheep). Identities

of ethnicities, castes or lineages to livestock

husbandry have typically formed historically

during periods of occupational specialization.

Mobile forms of pastoralism require funda-

mentally different demands on knowledge,

social connections and labour than sedentary

productive pursuits. Therefore, more mobile

forms of pastoralism have been most associ-

ated with the occupational specialization tied

to identity formation. For this reason, com-

mon uses of the term ‘pastoralism’ often sug-

gest systems of herding specialists relying on

more mobile forms of animal husbandry.

However, pastoralism encompasses systems

of variable reliance on livestock production

and on livestock mobility.

From a cultural ecology perspective,

pastoralism is an effective adaptation toeco-

systemsthat are marginal for crop agriculture

due to soil, topography or climate constraints.

Thus, while historically not necessarily the

case, contemporary pastoralism is increasingly

found largely within marginal areas, due to

agricultural encroachment in productive

areas. More mobile forms of pastoralism are

seen as ideally suited for environments with

significant spatio-temporal heterogeneity of

vegetative productivity. Two axes of mobility

within pastoral systems are human and live-

stock mobility. Nomadic pastoralism (see

nomadism) involves the movement of pastoral

families and their livestock, which does not

allow the establishment of a permanent

human dwelling. There are many other mobile

pastoral systems, such astranshumance,in

which the whole production unit (family, clan

etc.) does not move with the animals. Studies

have found that the mobility of pastoralists is

highly variable (over time and between pro-

duction units), making categorizations of pas-

toral peoples based on their mobility and that

of their livestock extremely hazardous.

Despite widely held romantic visions of isol-

ated, individualistic pastoralists relying solely

on their animals to meet subsistence needs,

most pastoralist societies have historically

aligned themselves to broader military/political

authority for security and have relied variably

(depending in part on livestock ownership) on

farming and/or trade to procure grain and

cash. This engagement with broader political

and economic systems has become more evi-

dent since the mid-twentieth century in many

parts of the world. More mobile pastoral live-

lihoods have generally not only not had the

support ofnation-states, but have, in certain

contexts, been actively attacked and disman-

tled by states that see pastoral mobility as

working against theirdevelopmentand polit-

ical aims (seemigrancy). Resource disposses-

sion along with the economic vulnerability of

livestock producers to market and climate fluc-

tuations has led to increased impoverishment

of pastoral peoples. While many pastoralists

maintain identities tied to animal husbandry,

Gregory / The Dictionary of Human Geography 9781405132879_4_P Final Proof page 521 1.4.2009 3:20pm

PASTORALISM