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More than human rights to commons: a poetic resistance in Chitral, Pakistan

Identification

Public canonical key
doi:10.1007/s13412-025-01084-7
Authors
Abdul Wahid Khan
Reported year
2026
Reported language
en
Source type
article
First detected
2026-11-09T19:04:47.671626+00:00
Last metadata observation
2026-11-09T19:14:45.215227+00:00
Last HTTP verification
Not checked

Institutions reported by the source

University of Oxford

Reported affiliation countries

GB

Documentary abstract — original language

Abstract This study investigates the governance of commons (muzhayo) in Chitral, Pakistan, by critiquing anthropocentric frameworks and distinctly differentiating “more-than-human rights” from universalist “rights of nature” approaches. The concept of muzhayo is introduced as a shared space for humans and more-than-human (MTH) entities, encompassing livestock, wildlife, plants, birds, and spiritual beings. This research employs poetry as a primary methodological tool, gathering 27 poems from Khowar-speaking poets, supplemented by ethnographic interviews and observations conducted over four years in the mountainous region of Upper Chitral. The research emphasises Indigenous cosmologies and multispecies interdependence, illustrating how livestock exhibit agency through movement across high pastures and how fairies (shawanan) act as traditional custodians of resource management. Conventional commons theory often overlooks these entanglements; this paper directly engages with recent animal turn and ontological turn scholarship and addresses nationalisation and extractive policies that perpetuate colonial logics of objectification. The findings reveal the agency distributed among human and non-human participants, challenging Western nature-culture dichotomies. Livestock, wildlife, birds, plants, and fairies (nangini) are integral to complex ecological networks that sustain pastoralist livelihoods and collective survival. The study outlines practical legal implications for conferring MTH rights: specific rights to movement, access, and protection, with representation by pastoralists or spiritual custodians, and governance rooted in Indigenous practice. The work thus integrates perspectives from environmental law, political ecology, and Indigenous studies, proposing policy frameworks for environmental governance in similar pastoralist contexts. Recognising MTH rights and Indigenous ontologies is presented as a viable alternative to conventional nature rights and commons management, advancing scholarship in decolonial ecology and more-than-human geography.

Identifiers

OPENALEX
W7125132578
DOI
10.1007/s13412-025-01084-7
OPENAIRE
doi_________::b4376abdf4a05aecef3d3e850b3e5208

Documentary context

Documentary family
Scholarship
Source-reported types
Article · article
Jurisdictions studied — explicit sources
PK

Entity mentions are not evidence of legal recognition. Jurisdiction studied is separate from author affiliation country.

Sources

OpenAIRE · Record 1

OpenAlex · Record 1 · Record 2

Documented bibliographic relations

Source-declared references and links; they do not establish legal support or UGLC qualification. Up to 20 outgoing references are displayed.

  • openalex:w117756887 · CITES
  • openalex:w1596137767 · CITES
  • openalex:w1604211355 · CITES
  • openalex:w1966518066 · CITES
  • openalex:w1989804588 · CITES
  • Community stewardship: the foundation of biocultural rights · CITES
  • openalex:w2111143102 · CITES
  • openalex:w2116846681 · CITES
  • openalex:w2167917351 · CITES
  • openalex:w2226396244 · CITES
  • openalex:w2304487534 · CITES
  • openalex:w2320606456 · CITES
  • openalex:w2337575045 · CITES
  • openalex:w23728064 · CITES
  • openalex:w2583082295 · CITES
  • openalex:w2758841738 · CITES
  • openalex:w2791902298 · CITES
  • openalex:w2887752503 · CITES
  • openalex:w3047680358 · CITES
  • openalex:w3130385712 · CITES

0 incoming references within the detected corpus

Documentary field provenance

Source-backed values and values with unresolved provenance are kept separately. Bibliographic provenance validates no legal claim.

Title
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Publication
Documentary source reported
Authors
Documentary source reported
Document type
Documentary source reported
Jurisdiction
Studied subject derived from explicit documentary context
Court
Not recorded
Issuing authority
Not recorded
Publisher
Not recorded
DOI
Documentary source reported
ISBN
Not recorded
Official identifier
Not recorded
Source URL
Documentary source reported
Source-reported status
Not recorded
Amendment / repeal
Not recorded

Cite this reference

Abdul Wahid Khan. More than human rights to commons: a poetic resistance in Chitral, Pakistan. 2026. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13412-025-01084-7

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APA, Chicago, ISO 690: bibliographic formats using available fields. OSCOLA / Bluebook: structured data only; full legal citation compliance is not claimed without verification of required elements.

APA
Abdul Wahid Khan. (2026). More than human rights to commons: a poetic resistance in Chitral, Pakistan. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13412-025-01084-7
Chicago
Abdul Wahid Khan. More than human rights to commons: a poetic resistance in Chitral, Pakistan. 2026. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13412-025-01084-7
ISO 690
Abdul Wahid Khan. More than human rights to commons: a poetic resistance in Chitral, Pakistan. 2026. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13412-025-01084-7

UDTR Global Rights of Nature Legal Library. More than human rights to commons: a poetic resistance in Chitral, Pakistan. Documentary record: https://www.declarationuniverselledesdroitsdelarbre.org/global-rights-of-nature-radar/reference/r-367597ba00e491248fc92dfaee0214c8/ · Last HTTP verification: not performed

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Field provenance and record version

Version 95256a09d3b4626c · udtr-reference-1.1.2

Title
OpenAIRE · source · 2026-11-09T19:07:01.644524+00:00
OpenAlex · source · 2026-11-09T19:14:45.215227+00:00
Authors
OpenAIRE · source · 2026-11-09T19:07:01.644524+00:00
OpenAlex · source · 2026-11-09T19:14:45.215227+00:00
Multiple reported values; disagreement retained.
Year
OpenAIRE · source · 2026-11-09T19:07:01.644524+00:00
OpenAlex · source · 2026-11-09T19:14:45.215227+00:00
Identifiers
OpenAIRE · source · 2026-11-09T19:07:01.644524+00:00
OpenAlex · source · 2026-11-09T19:14:45.215227+00:00
Multiple reported values; disagreement retained.
Source URL
OpenAIRE · source · 2026-11-09T19:07:01.644524+00:00
OpenAlex · source · 2026-11-09T19:14:45.215227+00:00
Source-reported author ORCID
OpenAlex · source · 2026-11-09T19:14:45.215227+00:00

History tracks record metadata and does not certify the state of the law.

ca00d799df09eb9c · 2026-11-09T19:14:45.215227+00:00

2d71d06f54eccab1 · 2026-11-09T19:14:45.215227+00:00

64d31b28c32e7222 · 2026-11-09T19:14:45.215227+00:00

95256a09d3b4626c · 2026-11-09T19:14:45.215227+00:00

Frozen-version metadata

Research dossiers and documentary relations

PK ·

University of Oxford

Abdul Wahid Khan

Source roles

Discovery source · https://doi.org/10.1007/s13412-025-01084-7

Discovery source · https://openalex.org/W7125132578

An authority link alone does not verify a legal claim. Abstracts and full texts remain subject to their source terms.

Documentary status

Relevance pending

Library

This identity is not yet included in the Legal Library.

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