Улаанбаатар
Nomadic Ethics and Intercultural Dialogue: Contributions of Nomads to the Future of the World
Society
Ulaanbaatar, June 27, 2023 /MONTSAME/. The International Academic Conference “Nomadic Ethics and Intercultural Dialogue” builds on ongoing discussions and initiatives regarding the contributions of mobile pastoralists and nomadic peoples to the future of our world, such as the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists and the Dana Declaration on Mobile Peoples. It brought together scholars to critically interrogate discriminatory stereotypes propagated against nomadic peoples which have labeled them as inherently unethical, amoral, or uncivilized.
Under the auspices of UNESCO, the International Conference held on 22-23 June 2023 in Ulaanbaatar, organized by the International Institute for the Study of Nomadic Civilizations (IISNC), in collaboration with the Commission on Nomadic Peoples, the National University of Mongolia, the Mongolian Anthropological Association, University of Winnipeg, and University of Oxford. Some 80 academic scholars and researchers from over 20 countries participated in the conference.
In recent years, pastoralists’ cashmere
production practices have been targeted in global consumer ethics debates,
following claims that nomadic herders treat their livestock inhumanely or that
they are destroying rangelands through unsustainable production practices. The
conference strived to provide a space to examine the ongoing consequences of
such normative claims in contemporary society. To dispel these discriminatory
stereotypes, the conference builds knowledge of ethical insights and moral evaluations from the perspective of nomadic cultures and worldviews.
The conference thus aimed to:
1) Arrive at a shared understanding of how
nomadic societies understand ethics and morality;
2) Study and document how nomadic ethics have
contributed to fostering intercultural dialogue and social equity;
3) Create evidential knowledge of how nomadic
ethics – encompassing ethical practices, beliefs, theories, and culture – are
being changed reformulated, and reconstructed in the post-socialist and
post-colonial countries;
4) Increase public awareness of ethics and
morality as based on human rights.
Keynote speakers were Professor David Sneath, University of Cambridge (Academic Council Member of IISNC), -Professor Bumochir Dulam, Office of the President of Mongolia (Chair of the Academic Council Member of IISNC), -Emeritus Professor Dawn Chatty, University of Oxford (Academic Council Member of IISNC).
