This article concerns educational and livelihood trajectories of the Kazakh minority in western Mongolia. It outlines the trajectories of individuals over four generations of a Kazakh family and contextualizes these within social, political, and economic context. It describes the importance of family networks and considers the concept of social capital, arguing that this key term in the literature on education and social mobility must be redefined in different historical and social settings. (Contains 2 figures and 6 notes.)