ABSTRACT
The lives of Central Asian pastoralists were engulfed by two different worlds in the twentieth century. First they were drawn into large collective farms, in which family animals became state property, decisions on animal husbandry were made by officials and technocrats, and hard work was rewarded not by seeing one’s flocks grow to be passed onto one’s children, but with medals and citations. After a period of great hardship, life in the collectives became secure. A decent house, income and health care was provided. Shepherds’ children could be educated in the new village schools and go on to become university graduates. The threat of livestock being decimated by climatic disasters was overcome.
