The transformation of Maldarai (pastoralist livelihood) in Yarkhun Valley, Chitral, Pakistan: Impacts of neoliberalism, school education and climate change

This study examines the future of pastoral livelihoods in rural Yarkhun Valley, Pakistan, in the context of the broader literature on changing pastoralism and the challenges faced by pastoralist communities. The study is based on three months of ethnographic fieldwork in Yarkhun Valley. Using discourse analysis and the lens of rural political ecology, it analyses changes in land use, climate projects, formal education, and urban migration, to elucidate the shift from the pastoral way of life towards a neoliberal lifestyle. The study explores the biases held by educated elites, non-governmental organisations and government institutions against local pastoralists – in particular the way they have stigmatised the practice of goat husbandry by associating it with flooding. Additionally, the paper looks at the impact of conservation and privatisation of the commons on pastoral livelihoods. It shows how pastoralist elders have held on to their traditional way of life despite pressure from the forces of modernisation and globalisation, and concludes that the future of pastoralism is precarious and uncertain.