In many ways, nomadic and pastoral communities live at the fringes of the contemporary nation-state: literally, since for historical and political reasons they often inhabit its border regions; and metaphorically, as they often find themselves at a considerable distance from the seats of power and decision-making. These communities also occupy a rather ambivalent position in the modernist imagination: they are regarded on the one hand as ‘authentic’, on the other as ‘primitive’ or ‘backward’; as either preserving a delicate natural balance between man and nature or sharing a deeply rooted, irrational, ‘love’ for their animals; as proud, fierce and independent, or as stubborn, traditionalist, a hindrance on the way to development.