1. Demonstrate an understanding of how tribalism and itinerant lifestyles have interacted with modern state-building

2.Critically analyse and, where necessary, circumnavigate common misapprehensions and stereotypes about nomadic, tribal, transhumant and ‘indigenous’ peoples in the modern period

3. Place the complexities of the topic in a larger historiographical and scholarly context and analyse them as such

4. Communicate complex ideas clearly and succinctly in writing and verbally

Presentation and Report (20%) Learning Outcomes Knowledge & Understanding, Reflection, Communication

Students will present to the class on a common misconception, controversy or disagreement on the scholarship related to the module. This will increase their sensitivity to intellectual problems still extant in the subject, and thereby improve their critical skills. Students will produce a short report based on their experiences of the presentation. They will be marked on their presentation with the report providing substantiating evidence for their preparation and academic knowledge.

Interview (30%) Learning Outcomes Knowledge & Understanding, Analysis, Communication

Students will engage in a short interview with the module leader, with another member of staff present to ensure good academic practice and equity. Students will be interviewed on a case study in the module, giving them the chance to demonstrate their ability to acquire knowledge and deploy it appropriately and strategically in a spontaneous manner.


Essay (50%) Learning Outcomes Knowledge & Understanding, Reflection, Analysis, Communication

Students will respond to one of a number of standard essay questions, giving them the chance to put all the module’s various skills and areas of knowledge into practice. This is the final holistic assessment.


Key Information Set Data:

Coursework 70%,

Examination (Interview) 30%.

Imagining nations and building states are two processes which have defined the modern age. While they are never straightforward endeavours, they precipitate a particular set of complexities and conflicts in areas dominated by mobile (nomadic; transhumant) and tribal populations. How does one secure the boundaries of a state in a region where families will not sit still? How does one enforce a new rule of law over segmented communities with their own customary systems of justice? This module poses these questions through theoretical study and the investigation of key case studies.

Imagining nations and building states are two processes which have defined the modern age. While they are never straightforward endeavours, they precipitate a particular set of complexities and conflicts in areas dominated by mobile (nomadic; transhumant) and tribal populations. How does one secure the boundaries of a state in a region where families will not sit still? How does one enforce a new rule of law over segmented communities with their own customary systems of justice? This module poses these questions through theoretical study and the investigation of key case studies.

Lectures will come in two halves. The first half will be thematic and will focus more on theoretical issues including modernity, state-building, nomadism, transhumance and tribalism. The second half will focus more on geographical and chronological case studies, in which students will be invited to bring their theoretical understanding to bear on real-life examples. Seminars will follow the lead of the lectures and will focus on group discussion and collaboration. Students will be encouraged to delve deep into the historiography and contemporary scholarship on the topic. Students should become conversant in key debates within the discipline and able to speak through them with confidence and clarity. Independent study hours will require reading and reflection as well as preparing for seminar discussion and assessments.

Chris Alden, Ward Anseeuw (eds), 2010. The Struggle Over Land in Africa: Conflicts, Politics and Change, HSRC.

Gunter Minnerup, 2010. First World, First Nations: Internal Colonialism and Indigenous Self-Determination in Northern Europe and Australia, Sussex Academic Press.

Jarmila Ptácková, 2020. Exile from the Grasslands: Tibetan Herders and Chinese Development Projects, University of Washington Press.

James C. Scott, 2020 edition. Seeing Like a State, Veritas.

Alun Thomas, 2018. Nomads and Soviet Rule: Central Asia under Lenin and Stalin, I. B. Tauris.

Library and Blackboard access. Teaching rooms with digital projection.