Squeezed between powerful neighbours, for decades Mongolia played the role of buffer state. Its full independence in 1990 offered new opportunities for both economic growth and the restoration of Mongolian identity. But with a huge land area, poor infrastructure and a small population, the new republic is highly vulnerable and also dependent on international support. This book provides easily accessible information for developers, planners, consultants, scholars, students and others with an interest in contemporary Mongolia. Prefaced by a general overview of the land and society, its chapters, all written by international experts, cover a wide range of topics, including foreign policy, domestic politics, local government structure, living standards and poverty, women in society, grassland management, the common herding household, and science and technology policy. A comprehensive bibliography is provided.

Almost 10 years ago the mineral-rich country of Mongolia experienced very rapid economic growth, fuelled by China’s need for coal and copper. New subjects, buildings, and businesses flourished, and future dreams were imagined and hoped for. This period of growth is, however, now over. Mongolia is instead facing high levels of public and private debt, conflicts over land and sovereignty, and a changed political climate that threatens its fragile democratic institutions. Subjective Lives and Economic Transformations in Mongolia details this complex story through the intimate lives of five women. Building on long-term friendships, which span over 20 years, Rebecca documents their personal journeys in an ever-shifting landscape. She reveals how these women use experiences of living a ‘life in the gap’ to survive the hard reality between desired outcomes and their actual daily lives. In doing so, she offers a completely different picture from that presented by economists and statisticians of what it is like to live in this fluctuating extractive economy.

Provides easily accessible information for developers, planners, consultants, scholars, students and others with an interest in contemporary Mongolia. Prefaced by a general overview of the land and society. Chapters, all written by international experts, cover a wide range of topics.

Mongolian and British economists present the first detailed analysis of the shock-therapy approach to economic transition that the remote Asian government adopted in 1990. They look at macroeconomic performance, the agriculture and industry sectors, the labor market, and the emerging financial sector from such perspectives as poverty, gender, privatization, and the environment. They find that policy makers have exacerbated the transition process by underestimating its complexity and by pursuing inappropriate, or at best overly optimistic, policy reforms. The treatment is revised and extended from a volume published in Mongolia in 1999. Annotation copyrighted by Book News Inc., Portland, OR