A Ahearn
Biographic Data
| ID | 22992 |
|---|---|
| NAME | A Ahearn |
| GIVEN NAMES | A |
| FAMILY NAME | Ahearn |
| SIGNATURE | AHEARN A |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Oxford |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-9911-4996 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 17 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 14 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2016 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Fieldnote From Bayanhongor, July 2025
This article was published open access under a CC BY-NC 4.0 licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
The Adaptation and Resilience of Pastoralists During the Covid-19 Pandemic in Mongolia
This paper draws on research conducted from 2021–2023 by multiple teams in Mongolia to understand COVID-19 impacts on rural pastoralist communities. While Mongolia adopted limited national-level COVID-19 policies specifically tailored for mobile pastoralist households and their livelihoods, the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted a range of pressure points, adaptations and innovations in the local health care response. In addition, the research demonst…
Mobile pastoralist geographies of care: Nomadic relationalities between the global pandemic and environmental risks
Mongolian mining engagement with SIA and ESG initiatives
The shift to a low-carbon future places mineral-rich low- and middle-income countries at the forefront of the green transition. The focus on investment and extraction presents significant domestic challenges as countries endeavour to create viable development agendas. Framed by initiatives including environmental, social and governance (ESG), impact assessment (IA) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the international community works to imp…
Ruins in the making: Socio-spatial struggles over extraction and export in the Sino-Mongolian Borderlands
Mongolia’s fabulous mineral wealth has led to competition and conflict amongst multiple stakeholders. Here we examine local struggles over extraction and export in the Sino-Mongolia Borderlands to offer a perspective on contemporary rural governance transformations in mining frontiers. Grounding years of in-country research with in-depth participant insights, we present and analyze the dilemmas faced by local government actors in Mongolia’s Gobi …
Herd Agency: Rethinking Herd-Herder Relations in Mongolia and Qinghai, China
In this article, we draw upon ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Mongolia and China to develop understandings of herd-herder (mal-malchin) relations further. We focus primarily on horse-herding practices and related divisions of labour, and the three concepts of herd intuition (zön), serenity (taa) and fortune (buyan, khishig, zaya), to present additional interpretations of human-animal relations in Mongolia. Through this exploration, we develop…
The New Mongolian State Herder: Examining Invocations and Improvisations of the State in Rural Mongolia
This article aims to advance understandings of contemporary state-making in rural Mongolia, contingent on historical processes rather than a taken-for-granted natural category. Writing on postsocialist Mongolia often emphasizes the “retreat of the state” in rural areas; this article offers a counterpoint to this discourse by illustrating the ways in which herder livelihoods and the idealization of herder labor are actively drawn into contemporary…
Gobi Herders’ Decision-Making and Risk Management under Changing Climate
Konstantina Isidoros. Nomads and Nation Building in the Western Sahara: Gender, Politics and the Sahrawi
Winters without women: Social change, split households and gendered labour in rural Mongolia
In this article, I use absence as a lens to explore social change and masculinity in rural Mongolia, with a focus on household splitting during winter months. Since the breakdown in state-sponsored dormitory systems, many mobile pastoralists split their households to accommodate children during the school year. This results in women moving to settled centres while men remain in pastures to care for livestock. In critical reflections on rural work…
A Condensed History of the Public Administration of Pastoralism in Mongolia
This article provides a historical overview of the administration of mobile pastoralism in Mongolia, with a focus on the period from 1924 to the early 2010s. The historical links between pastoralist land use and governance administrative structures provides a context in which to better understand changing legal frameworks in Mongolia today. Common development discourses and research on contemporary pastoralism tend to overlook the many ways in wh…
Contradictions in Schooling Children among Mongolian Pastoralists
Mongolian pastoralist households with children face an annual decision at the start of the school year—how to take care of both herds and children separated by long distances and resource needs. This article draws on twelve months of ethnographic research on rural work practices among mobile pastoralists in Mongolia to illustrate how children's access to primary education spatially transforms the organization of herder livelihoods. By prioritizin…
Caroline Dyer, Livelihoods and Learning: Education for All and the Marginalization of Mobile Pastoralists
The Role of Kinship in Negotiating Territorial Rights: Exploring Claims for Winter Pasture Ownership in Mongolia
This paper explores the role of kinship in herder claims for winter shelter ownership in rural Mongolia, where pastureland is currently designated as state-owned property in the national constitution. Drawing on ethnographic research conducted amongst mobile pastoralist households, this article demonstrates how contemporary winter pasture rights take shape within a locus of political relations structured by custodial land-use practices. It highli…
Winters without women: Social change, split households and gendered labour in rural Mongolia
In this article, I use absence as a lens to explore social change and masculinity in rural Mongolia, with a focus on household splitting during winter months. Since the breakdown in state-sponsored dormitory systems, many mobile pastoralists split their households to accommodate children during the school year. This results in women moving to settled centres while men remain in pastures to care for livestock. In critical reflections on rural work…
Ruins in the making: Socio-spatial struggles over extraction and export in the Sino-Mongolian Borderlands
Mongolia’s fabulous mineral wealth has led to competition and conflict amongst multiple stakeholders. Here we examine local struggles over extraction and export in the Sino-Mongolia Borderlands to offer a perspective on contemporary rural governance transformations in mining frontiers. Grounding years of in-country research with in-depth participant insights, we present and analyze the dilemmas faced by local government actors in Mongolia’s Gobi …
Mongolian mining engagement with SIA and ESG initiatives
The shift to a low-carbon future places mineral-rich low- and middle-income countries at the forefront of the green transition. The focus on investment and extraction presents significant domestic challenges as countries endeavour to create viable development agendas. Framed by initiatives including environmental, social and governance (ESG), impact assessment (IA) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the international community works to imp…
The New Mongolian State Herder: Examining Invocations and Improvisations of the State in Rural Mongolia
This article aims to advance understandings of contemporary state-making in rural Mongolia, contingent on historical processes rather than a taken-for-granted natural category. Writing on postsocialist Mongolia often emphasizes the “retreat of the state” in rural areas; this article offers a counterpoint to this discourse by illustrating the ways in which herder livelihoods and the idealization of herder labor are actively drawn into contemporary…
The Role of Kinship in Negotiating Territorial Rights: Exploring Claims for Winter Pasture Ownership in Mongolia
This paper explores the role of kinship in herder claims for winter shelter ownership in rural Mongolia, where pastureland is currently designated as state-owned property in the national constitution. Drawing on ethnographic research conducted amongst mobile pastoralist households, this article demonstrates how contemporary winter pasture rights take shape within a locus of political relations structured by custodial land-use practices. It highli…
Mobile pastoralist geographies of care: Nomadic relationalities between the global pandemic and environmental risks
Herd Agency: Rethinking Herd-Herder Relations in Mongolia and Qinghai, China
In this article, we draw upon ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Mongolia and China to develop understandings of herd-herder (mal-malchin) relations further. We focus primarily on horse-herding practices and related divisions of labour, and the three concepts of herd intuition (zön), serenity (taa) and fortune (buyan, khishig, zaya), to present additional interpretations of human-animal relations in Mongolia. Through this exploration, we develop…
Konstantina Isidoros. Nomads and Nation Building in the Western Sahara: Gender, Politics and the Sahrawi
A Condensed History of the Public Administration of Pastoralism in Mongolia
This article provides a historical overview of the administration of mobile pastoralism in Mongolia, with a focus on the period from 1924 to the early 2010s. The historical links between pastoralist land use and governance administrative structures provides a context in which to better understand changing legal frameworks in Mongolia today. Common development discourses and research on contemporary pastoralism tend to overlook the many ways in wh…
Contradictions in Schooling Children among Mongolian Pastoralists
Mongolian pastoralist households with children face an annual decision at the start of the school year—how to take care of both herds and children separated by long distances and resource needs. This article draws on twelve months of ethnographic research on rural work practices among mobile pastoralists in Mongolia to illustrate how children's access to primary education spatially transforms the organization of herder livelihoods. By prioritizin…
Caroline Dyer, Livelihoods and Learning: Education for All and the Marginalization of Mobile Pastoralists
The Role of Kinship in Negotiating Territorial Rights: Exploring Claims for Winter Pasture Ownership in Mongolia
This paper explores the role of kinship in herder claims for winter shelter ownership in rural Mongolia, where pastureland is currently designated as state-owned property in the national constitution. Drawing on ethnographic research conducted amongst mobile pastoralist households, this article demonstrates how contemporary winter pasture rights take shape within a locus of political relations structured by custodial land-use practices. It highli…
Winters without women: Social change, split households and gendered labour in rural Mongolia
In this article, I use absence as a lens to explore social change and masculinity in rural Mongolia, with a focus on household splitting during winter months. Since the breakdown in state-sponsored dormitory systems, many mobile pastoralists split their households to accommodate children during the school year. This results in women moving to settled centres while men remain in pastures to care for livestock. In critical reflections on rural work…
A Condensed History of the Public Administration of Pastoralism in Mongolia
This article provides a historical overview of the administration of mobile pastoralism in Mongolia, with a focus on the period from 1924 to the early 2010s. The historical links between pastoralist land use and governance administrative structures provides a context in which to better understand changing legal frameworks in Mongolia today. Common development discourses and research on contemporary pastoralism tend to overlook the many ways in wh…
Gobi Herders’ Decision-Making and Risk Management under Changing Climate
Konstantina Isidoros. Nomads and Nation Building in the Western Sahara: Gender, Politics and the Sahrawi
Herd Agency: Rethinking Herd-Herder Relations in Mongolia and Qinghai, China
In this article, we draw upon ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Mongolia and China to develop understandings of herd-herder (mal-malchin) relations further. We focus primarily on horse-herding practices and related divisions of labour, and the three concepts of herd intuition (zön), serenity (taa) and fortune (buyan, khishig, zaya), to present additional interpretations of human-animal relations in Mongolia. Through this exploration, we develop…
The New Mongolian State Herder: Examining Invocations and Improvisations of the State in Rural Mongolia
This article aims to advance understandings of contemporary state-making in rural Mongolia, contingent on historical processes rather than a taken-for-granted natural category. Writing on postsocialist Mongolia often emphasizes the “retreat of the state” in rural areas; this article offers a counterpoint to this discourse by illustrating the ways in which herder livelihoods and the idealization of herder labor are actively drawn into contemporary…
Ruins in the making: Socio-spatial struggles over extraction and export in the Sino-Mongolian Borderlands
Mongolia’s fabulous mineral wealth has led to competition and conflict amongst multiple stakeholders. Here we examine local struggles over extraction and export in the Sino-Mongolia Borderlands to offer a perspective on contemporary rural governance transformations in mining frontiers. Grounding years of in-country research with in-depth participant insights, we present and analyze the dilemmas faced by local government actors in Mongolia’s Gobi …
Mongolian mining engagement with SIA and ESG initiatives
The shift to a low-carbon future places mineral-rich low- and middle-income countries at the forefront of the green transition. The focus on investment and extraction presents significant domestic challenges as countries endeavour to create viable development agendas. Framed by initiatives including environmental, social and governance (ESG), impact assessment (IA) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the international community works to imp…
The Adaptation and Resilience of Pastoralists During the Covid-19 Pandemic in Mongolia
This paper draws on research conducted from 2021–2023 by multiple teams in Mongolia to understand COVID-19 impacts on rural pastoralist communities. While Mongolia adopted limited national-level COVID-19 policies specifically tailored for mobile pastoralist households and their livelihoods, the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted a range of pressure points, adaptations and innovations in the local health care response. In addition, the research demonst…
Mobile pastoralist geographies of care: Nomadic relationalities between the global pandemic and environmental risks
Fieldnote From Bayanhongor, July 2025
This article was published open access under a CC BY-NC 4.0 licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Geography (11 works) · Rangeland Management and Livestock Ecology (11 works) · Political science (10 works) · Sociology (8 works) · Pastoralism (7 works) · Economics (6 works) · Livestock (6 works) · Politics (6 works) · Economic growth (5 works) · Law (5 works)