In search of fertile pastures: Livelihood pursuit and the reproduction of the social order by youth in rural Mongolia

This work inquires into the dynamics of the relationship between youth in rural Mongolia, ages 16 to 25, and their pursuit of livelihood. This cohort of youth, born between 1981 and 1990, is the first generation to grow up during Mongolia's transition from a socialist political and economic system to a democratic society with a free market. The transition was marked by economic shocks which caused many of the hard won social advances (high literacy rate, low infant and maternal mortality rate, absence of unemployment and poverty) to decline dramatically. Now this generation of youth are on the threshold of pursuing livelihoods and as such are actively involved in the reproduction of Mongolian society.;This inquiry incorporates both quantitative and qualitative analysis. The quantitative section examines factors that contribute to youth being more or less likely to expect to engage in the traditional practice of pastoralism. The statistical analysis of survey data revealed that youth who had to help with their family's herds were more likely to expect to herd as a livelihood than those who had high educational aspirations such as post-secondary schooling. The qualitative section looks at the perceptions that youth and parents of youth have about migrating to Mongolia's capital city, Ulaanbaatar, in order to take advantage of the schooling (and later employment) options located there. This section offers an understanding of youth's actions that seeks to reach beyond current understandings of migrants as either recipients of structural forces or as motivated opportunists. The most pervasive theme arising from this analysis, the notion that a 'better life' is obtained in the city, is discussed vis-a-vis youth's reproduction of the social order.