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These low-tech subjects of global migration flows were particularly valued and sought after by their Emirati employers for their expertise in raising camels. I analyse the forms and consequences of this migration, focusing on the reintegration of these shepherds into Mauritanian stratified tribal spheres following their return to the Sahara. The possibility of a change in their social status (after a financially rewarding experience in the Gulf) will be a central theme of this article. This issue arises from the pervasive designation of these shepherds as a \u2018tributary\u2019 (<jats:italic>zn\u0101ga<\/jats:italic>) group, through the application of the tripartite social model that, to a large extent, still defines Mauritania's arabophone population.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1017\/s0022278x14000238","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2014,8,18]],"date-time":"2014-08-18T10:09:50Z","timestamp":1408356590000},"page":"425-446","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8,"title":["Saharan migrant camel herders: Zn\u0101ga social status and the global age"],"prefix":"10.1017","volume":"52","author":[{"given":"Francisco","family":"Freire","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]}],"member":"56","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2014,8,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"S0022278X14000238_ref93","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/S0010417507000503"},{"key":"S0022278X14000238_ref81","unstructured":"Ould Cheikh A.W. 1985. \u2018Nomadisme, Islam et pouvoir politique dans la soci\u00e9t\u00e9 Maure pr\u00e9coloniale (XIes.\u2013XIXes.): Essai sur quelques aspects du tribalisme\u2019. 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