Mobile Videos

Apart from the mobile pastoralists’ local knowledge we recognise their technological expertise and challenge the stereotypes of mobile pastoralists being deprived from technology and innovation (Palladino 2018; Sheller 2016). To spread this perception, we propose putting a video campaign through social media calling out for stories narrated by the mobile pastoralists themselves (smart phones, mobiles). We ask for videos to be made by the pastoralists in Morocco, Switzerland, wider Europe and the Mediterranean to cover their daily lives, challenges they face, the technologies they use, and cultural traits they would like to manifest and represent. Through the sharing and circulation of the videos at our proposed interactive web site and other alternative social media means we transcend often socially constructed borders across intertwined trajectories of different generations, rural and urban areas and national borders.

The videos produced through our calls belong to the participants. Depending on the intentions of the communities, the videos may be used for a range of purposes: advocacy, awareness raising, knowledge-sharing, evaluation, and consultation. Communities grant the facilitators, the project partners and funders permission to share their videos with the intention that their voices will be heard by the right audiences. Although the target group seems to be limited to the transhumance, herders and mobile pastoralists, the call can act as a multiplier for a wider public and the sharing of such videos can continue beyond the finalised research project.