When the Nuer were threatened by an outside force, they unified and organised to a high degree of political complexity in order to respond to the challenge. When the menace subsided, they diversified and atomised.
This reminds me about both the lecture we watched on Afghan tribes and on the readings about the Turkmen.
the interaction of the state with the nomadic steppe peoples and the changing oppositions they entail.
This connects more to our previous readings
recreation of tradition in response to the official historical interpretation with which this paper is concerned.
This is an interesting shift in how to look at things... the concept of tradition vs regimes and so on.
autochthonous
This means indigenous rather than being decedents from migration or colonists
argue a re-assessment of the very nature of these ethnic categories themselves,
Likely the main takeaway of this article
Xinjiang itself has been brought fully into the Chinese nation-state.
I remember earlier in class talking about how Xinjiang is center for some unrest due to it bordering Central Asia and China. This must be cause for an interesting mix of cultures.