In most pastoral systems, domestic animals are at the centre of social and symbolic life. A rich body of literature describes the multiple ways through which animals circulate between individuals, households, kinship groups, following patterns that are more or less institutionalised, based on pre-existing social relations or on the contrary enabling the enactment of new social relations - not mentioning the production-related importance of these flows.
There is, however, a lack of understanding of the ways these exchanges may be articulated with other dimensions, particularly in pastoral systems facing uncertainties and wide range transformations - within themselves or in their socio-economical and ecological environments. How are they affected by changing patterns of spatial mobility? Do animal transfers play the role of a security net, particularly for unpoverished herders or in situations of crisis, as it is generally assumed, or would these have a limited effect for vulnerable herders, as it was recently shown? On another line, several works have shown that herd size and composition are some of the dimensions that pastoralists may tune to fit with their economical objectives and to the changing socio-political and ecological settings they evolve in, making it a means to be resilient. But the ways the pastoralists do so, in relation with social settings, spatial mobility - and the consequences on the circulation of animals in particular - have been quite overlooked and need further scholarly attention.
In this panel, we propose to explore the multifaceted phenomenon of the circulation of animals in pastoral systems - across space, social and economics worlds, in relation with transformations and uncertainties. We welcome presentations aiming at discussing some of these intricacies, particularly in relation with uncertainties and marginalities.
