Munkh-Erdene Gantulga

Digital Pastoralism?: Modern Mobility, the 4G and Development in Mongolia

Munkh-Erdene Gantulga is a PhD candidate in Geography at the School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford. He earned his BA in Ethnology and MA in Social Anthropology from the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, National University of Mongolia. Additionally, he completed another MA in Development Studies, University of Melbourne.

Munkh-Erdene serves as the Executive Secretary of the Mongolian Anthropological Association. Prior to joining Oxford, he held the position of Senior Lecturer in the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, National University of Mongolia.

His research interests encompass the social life of artisanal gold miners, known as ninja miners, as well as nationalism, cultural heritage, globalization, capitalism, development, and mining in Mongolia. Munkh-Erdene has conducted extensive fieldwork in several provinces of Mongolia and China. Based on his participant observation, he has published over 20 book chapters and articles at both the national and international levels.

His PhD research centres on the adoption and utilization of digital technologies, including 4G networks, digital devices, and social media, among rural pastoralists in Mongolia. The primary objective is to formulate the concept of 'digital pastoralism' through ethnographic research and explore how pastoralists integrate digital technologies into their daily lives. This concept not only critiques prevailing development and rural categorizations but also provides a lens to examine the transformation of rural areas and spaces in the context of digital wireless network environments.

• Lezak, S. and Munkherdene, G. (2021) After Life-of-Mine: Rethinking Mine Closure. In, The Impact of Mining Lifecycles in Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan: Political, Social, Environmental and Cultural Contexts, edited by Troy Sternberg, Byambabaatar Ichinkhorloo and Kemel Toktomushev, London: Routledge.
• Munkherdene, G. (2021) 1990-eed onoos khoishih Mongol Uls dahi niigmiin antropologiin sudalgaa (A Review on Social Anthropological Studies in Mongolia since the 1990s). Journal of Philosophy and Religious Studies, 23(551): 96-106.
• Dulam, B. and Munkherdene, G. (2019) Revitalization of Cultural Heritage in Mongolia: Development, Legislation and Academic Contributions. Inner Asia, 21(1): 83-103.
• Munkherdene, G. and Sneath, D. (2018) Enclosing the Gold Mining Commons of Mongolia: The Vanishing Ninja and the Development Project as Resource. Current Anthropology, 59(6): 814-834.
• Munkherdene, G. (2018) The Formation and Distribution of Pro-capitalist Perspectives in Mongolia. Central Asian Survey, 37(3): 372-385.