Literaturverz. S. 301 - 321.

Discourse between development agents and nomads implies that development for nomadiccommunities is a contradiction in terms. A "market-oriented" subtext underscores the investors'power of international agencies, the brokers' competition of intermediate organizations, and thenomadic clients' opportunism. Interviews and participant-observation focused on relationsbetween Wo??aa??e communities, bilateral and local organizations, and government extensionservices. I compare the data obtained with historical events to illuminate current phenomena.Approaches of structuration, political ecology, and disequilibrium theory aid an examination ofcommunication and discourses, and gaps in understanding between the parties. I find thatessential pastoral livelihood strategies of mobility and customary institutions are threatened bythe development system. How will social change affect cultural mechanisms that facilitateresource access and allocation? Rather than promoting sustainable development, projects thattarget nomadic communities may only result in increased stratification, wealth disparity andmarginalization for the majority of nomadic households. Will "development" become too costlyfor households, local ecology, and even national economy? I conclude with recommendationsfor participative development through collaborative research.

(Agro)pastoralism in Sahelian Niger, as elsewhere, operates through household enterprises. Katsinen-ko’en (Fulбe) households, interconnected within kin and community networks, utilize a range of flexible strategies to manage a variety of ecological and economic risks. This dissertation argues that (agro)pastoralist households and communities maintain or improve viability in risky environments first by employing various mobility patterns, among other strategies, and relying on the tightly knit interdependence between household and herd. Secondly, households that most successfully sustain a cooperative integrity (i.e. partnerships between husband and wife, or wives, and parents and children) to negotiate decisions and strategies best withstand adversities such as droughts. The continuance of vital links between household and herd helps the household enterprise more easily weather difficult times and profit during advantageous times. Thirdly, the transfer of endowments from parents to children of ecological, economic and political knowledges and socio-economic networks ensures the continuity of family livelihoods. This dissertation analyzes a range of household/herd mobility patterns on a livelihood continuum from sedentary agropastoralism to exclusive pastoralism, and the household decisions that lead to those mobilities. In this way, it adds to a growing body of literature that examines household strategies employed in very uncertain natural environments, contributing to pastoral studies and environmental anthropology. By folding household economics and political ecology into household ecology, it analyses resource and asset transfers within and between households, all under the influence of the natural and political-economic environments. Contributing to development anthropology, I argue that the most important buffer against the risks of unpredictable environments is a stable, undivided household, migrating with and managing its own herd. I conclude by showing how development research and projects should support household/herd integrity to enhance livelihood security. When government or development agencies institute policies and projects that remove children from the household, or separate households and herds, they endanger the integrity of the household and the reproduction of livelihoods that make essential contributions to national economies. Rather than urging pastoralists to modify their livelihoods to fit images held by ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION administrators, these organizations and agencies should help pastoralists to build on adaptations that already facilitate their management of risky environments.

Universiẗat, Diss., 2004--Frankfurt (Main). / Zsfassung in dt., franz. und engl. Sprache.

Cette thèse, basée sur une recherche de terrain entre la capitale mauritanienne et le centre sud du pays (frontière avec le Mali), traite des relations de certains groupes pastoraux peuls (FulaaBe) avec l'État mauritanien. Évoluant aux marges du contrôle étatique, les FulaaBe ont été intégrés à l'État très tardivement (années 1980), ce qui permet de saisir la nature du croisement de la trajectoire historique du groupe avec la construction de l'État mauritanien. La thèse offre ainsi une interprétation de deux dynamiques : d'une part, l'élaboration de la marginalité qui résulte des logiques étatiques d'inclusion et exclusion de la citoyenneté (persécutions « ethniques » de 1989, discours de l'autochtonie, élitisme et gouvernance) ; de l'autre, les stratégies et les tactiques de réaction des marginaux à leur condition (pratiques informelles, imaginaires politiques, relations ville-campagne, associations, critiques politiques).