New research about gender, land and mining in Mongolia: deepening understanding of coping strategies in pastoral communities

This paper shares findings from new research on gender and land in a pastoralist community in central- western Mongolia, with a complex structure of investment and operations in gold mining. The paper examines what has been learned from the research about people's coping strategies in the face of social and environmental change, specifically in the context of the development of mining since the transition from socialism and in a relatively isolated area. Comparisons are made with similar studies in other communities in Mongolia, where it is found that in some ways female-headed households are less vulnerable in this new research community, while many men are in fact the vulnerable members of the community.