English description: On the basis of a precis of available knowledge on traditional nomadic ways of life and livelihoods on the Tibetan Plateau this book presents an analysis of current conditions of livelihood security in pastoralist areas. The example of the remote Eastern Tibetan region of Yushu illustrates how nomadic societies in times of transition use the resources at their disposal for securing their livelihood. This predominantly rural district is an ecologically vulnerable and economically marginal highland region within China's present-day Qinghai Province. In case studies that were surveyed with qualitative and quantitative methods, the basis for local livelihoods of pastoralist and agro-pastoralist households was assessed. In this context the extraordinary role of caterpillar fungus is elucidated - a resource that is virtually unknown in the Western World but which is of vital importance for Tibetan nomads in the plateau's Eastern half. The study at hand discusses in which way resource-oriented operation schemes and exogenous factors interact, thus defining the extent of livelihood security, vulnerability and resilience of pastoral households, local groups and the super-ordinate society in this part of the Tibetan Plateau. German description: Das vorliegende Buch fasst das vorhandene Wissen uber die nomadische Lebensweise im tibetischen Hochland zusammen und verknupft dieses mit einer entwicklungstheoretisch angeleiteten Analyse der heutigen Bedingungen nomadischer Existenzsicherung. Ausgehend von der osttibetischen Region Yushu in Qinghai (China) beschaftigt es sich mit der Frage, wie nomadische Gesellschaften in Zeiten des Umbruchs die ihnen zur Verfugung stehenden Ressourcen zur Existenzsicherung nutzen. In einer lange Zeit als besonders abgelegen geltenden, okologisch problematischen und okonomisch randstandigen Hochlandregion werden in qualitativ und quantitativ bewerteten Fallstudien die Lebensgrundlagen nomadischer und seminomadischer Haushalte untersucht. Dabei wird die einzigartige Rolle des Raupenpilzes, einer im Westen haufig unbekannten, in tibetischen Nomadengebieten jedoch enorm wichtigen Ressource, deutlich gemacht. Das Buch erortert, in welcher Weise ressourcenbezogene Handlungsmuster und exogene Faktoren zusammenwirken, um das Ausmass von Absicherung, Verwundbarkeit und Resilienz von Haushalten, Gruppen und der ubergeordneten Gesellschaft zu bestimmen.
About the Author: Andreas Gruschke studied geography, social anthropology and sinology in Freiburg, Germany, and in Beijing, China. He obtained an M.A. degree at Freiburg University in 1990; he earned his doctoral degree at Leipzig University, Germany, in 2009. His research focus is on historical geography, development studies, problems of acculturation and social integration, pastoralism and migration, notably on the Tibetan Plateau and in China. He has frequently stayed in East Asia, Tibet and Central Asia for studies, work and research since the mid-1980s. From 2004 to 2012 he worked as a research fellow at the collaborative research centre "Difference and Integration: Interaction between Nomadic and Settled Forms of Life in the Civilisations of the Old World" at Leipzig University. He has been an affiliate guest professor at the Social Development & Western China Development Studies Institute of Sichuan University in Chengdu, China, since November 2012.