Universität zu Köln

Casimir, Michael J. (2010). Growing up in a Pastoral Society. Socialisation among Pashtu Nomads in Western Afghanistan.

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Abstract

For many reasons, publication of this description and analysis of the socialisation process among the Pashtu nomads of western Afghanistan is considerably overdue. The fieldwork was carried out already in the late 1970s. The present booklet grew out of an article originally written fo an edited book that finally became too long and was withdrawn. Once again, it took a long time to partly rewrite and expand it. Nevertheless, even some thirty years after the fieldwork, I think that the data presented here are still valid for three reasons: First, it can be supposed that many of the patterns in the way in which children grow up in a Pashtu nomad camp in western Afghanistan have not changed dramatically - despite the terrible events and socio-political changes that the country has gone through since 1979. Second, even if these dramatic changes have influenced and altered many or some of the values and norms on which the socialisation process is grounded, the information presented here can be understood as a document describing how it was "once upon a time". Finally, the information might also be useful for future cross-cultural and comparative studies on the socialisation process in different societies because very little information is available on nomadic pastoral societies. The fieldwork in Afghanistan, sponsored by the German Research Foundation (DFG), to which we are most grateful, was carried out together with Bernt Glatzer over a period of about ten months during the winter of 1975/76 and the summer of 1977 in the districts of Bala Boluk (Farah Rud) and Shindand in the province of Farah. The data analysed and communicated here were collected either personally, or, because our language capacities were not good enough for more detailed interviews and discussions, through the assistance of our friends and counterparts Mohammad Saber, Hedayat Hedayatullah and Mohammad Azim Safi who also helped us in many other ways. We are most grateful to all three of them. The transcription of Pashtu terms follows the rules of the "Library of Congress" with the exception of persons' names for which diacritical signs are not used.

Item Type:	Book, conference item or legal commentary
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Casimir, Michael J. astrid.hegemann@uni-koeln.de UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-30463
Series Name at the University of Cologne:	Kölner ethnologische Beiträge
Volume:	33
Date:	2010
Language:	English
Faculty:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities
Divisions:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Fächergruppe 4: Außereuropäische Sprachen, Kulturen und Gesellschaften > Institut für Ethnologie
Subjects:	Customs, etiquette, folklore
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language Paschtunen , Afghanistan , Kinder , Sozialisation, Weidewirtschaft German Pashtun , Afghanistan , children , socialisation, pastoral nomadism English
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/3046