ANTH 344 Ecological Anthropology

This timely anthology brings together for the first time the most important ancient, medieval, Enlightenment, and modern scholarship for a complete anthropological evaluation of the relationship between culture and climate change. Brings together for the first time the most important classical works and contemporary scholarship for a complete historical anthropological evaluation of the relationship between culture and climate change Covers the historic and prehistoric records of human impact from and response to prior periods of climate change, including the impact and response to climate change at the local level Discusses the impact on global debates about climate change from North-South post-colonial histories and the social dimensions of the science of climate change. Includes coverage of topics such as environmental determinism, climatic events as social catalysts, climatic disasters and societal collapse, and ethno-meteorology

Ecology and the Sacred commemorates and advances the anthropology of Roy A. (Skip) Rappaport. Rappaport was an original and visionary thinker whose writings, like these essays, encompass ecological theory and method; ritual, the sacred, and the cybernetics of the holy; the structural study of social maladaptation or "the anthropology of trouble"; and a policy-engaged anthropology that addresses social complexity and structural disorders in modern contexts. The contributors, who are leaders in anthropological studies of the environment and of religion, address themes emerging from Rappaport's pioneering ethnography of Papua New Guinea through his engagement with contemporary social problems. In addition to presenting significant new ethnographic data and sharp critical perspectives, the collection demonstrates the essential holism of anthropology as represented by Rappaport's contributions and legacy.

"Maintaining the structure and clarity of the previous edition, the second edition has been revised throughout to include new research, expanded discussions of climate change, and a chapter devoted to spiritual ecology. In the historical overview of the field, Patricia Townsend shows how ideas and approaches developed earlier are relevant to understanding how today's local populations adapt to their physical and biological environments. She next presents a closer look at global environmental issues - rapid expansion of the world economic system, disease and poverty, the loss of biodiversity and its implications for human health - to demonstrate the effects of interactions between local and global communities. As a capstone, she gives thoughtful consideration to how, as professionals and as individuals, we can move toward personal engagement with environmental problems."--BOOK JACKET.

This volume presents new theoretical approaches, methodologies, subject pools, and topics in the field of environmental anthropology. Environmental anthropologists are increasingly focusing on self-reflection - not just on themselves and their impacts on environmental research, but also on the reflexive qualities of their subjects, and the extent to which these individuals are questioning their own environmental behavior. Here, contributors confront the very notion of "natural resources" in granting non-human species their subjectivity and arguing for deeper understanding of "nature," and "wilderness" beyond the label of "ecosystem services." By engaging in interdisciplinary efforts, these anthropologists present new ways for their colleagues, subjects, peers and communities to understand the causes of, and alternatives to environmental destruction.

Today, we face some of the greatest environmental challenges in global history. Understanding the damage being done and the varied ethics and efforts contributing to its repair is of vital importance. This volume poses the question: What can increasing the emphasis on the environment in environmental anthropology, along with the science of its problems and the theoretical and methodological tools of anthropological practice, do to aid conservation efforts, policy initiatives, and our overall understanding of how to survive as citizens of the planet? Environmental Anthropology Todaycombines a range of new ethnographic work with chapters exploring key theoretical and methodological issues, and draws on disciplines such as sociology and environmental science as well as anthropology to illuminate those issues. The case studies include work on North America, Europe, India, Africa, Asia, and South America, offering the reader a stimulating and thoughtful survey of the work currently being conducted in the field.

The re-emerging field of ethnoecology offers a promising way to document and analyze human-environment interactions. This collection brings the discipline into sharp focus, conveying local understandings of environments and proposing a way of looking at the relationship between humans and the natural world that emphasizes the importance of cognition in shaping behavior. Case studies by international experts explore the varied views of scholars on the human dimension of conversation and the different views of local peoples regarding their own environments. Filled with peoples' voices from North and South America, Africa, and Asia, these cases cover a range of issues: natural resource conservation and sustainable development, the relationship between local knowledge and biodiversity, the role of the commons in development, and the importance of diversity and equity in environmental management.

"This very timely collection of 13 papers examines several key issues focused on native peoples and environment in Amazonian. . . . The authors are highly qualified. . . . Essential reading." --American Anthropologist "A most welcome addition to our emergent understanding of the political ecology of lowland South America. . . . This work includes some of the best current research on the human ecology of Amazonia." --Cultural Survival Quarterly

Few figures in modern American anthropology have been more controversial or influential than Leslie A. White (1900-1975). Between the early 1940s and mid-1960s, White's work was widely discussed, and he was among the most frequently cited American anthropologists in the world. After writing several respected ethnographic works about the Pueblo Indians, White broke ranks with anthropologists who favored such cultural histories and began to radically rethink American anthropology. As his political interest in socialism grew, he revitalized the concept of cultural evolution and reinvigorated comparative studies of culture. His strident political beliefs, radical interpretive vision, and often combative nature earned him enemies inside and outside the academy. His trip to the Soviet Union and participation in the Socialist Labor Party brought him to the attention of the FBI during the height of the Cold War, and near-legendary scholarly and political conflicts surrounded him at the University of Michigan.   Placing White's life and work in historic context, William J. Peace documents the broad sociopolitical influences that affected his career, including many aspects of White's life that are largely unknown, such as the reasons he became antagonistic toward Boasian anthropology. In so doing, Peace sheds light on what made White such a colorful figure as well as his enduring contributions to modern anthropology.

Global environmental change and recent worldwide infectious-disease outbreaks make the ecological perspective of medical anthropology more important a field of study than ever. In this premier teaching text, authors Ann McElroy and Patricia K. Townsend integrate biocultural, environmental, and evolutionary approaches to the study of human health, providing a complete and authoritative ecological perspective that is essential for interpreting medical anthropology. Research by biological anthropologists, archaeologists, and paleopathologists illuminates the history and prehistory of disease, along with coverage of contemporary health issues, both local and global. This sixth edition is thoroughly revised and updated, with expanded discussion on the interaction of environment and infectious disease; new material on climate change, globalization, and the effects of war on physical and mental health; and an entirely new chapter on ethics in medical anthropology.

Julian Steward (1902-72) is best remembered in American anthropology as the creator of cultural ecology, a theoretical approach that has influenced generations of archaeologists and cultural anthropologists. This generous biography by Virginia Kerns considers the intellectual and emotional influences of Steward's remarkable career and provides insights into the development of anthropology during his lifetime. Scenes from the High Desert locates the concept of cultural ecology as a social theory in the context of Steward's lived experience and personal construction of meaning. Kerns explores the scholar's early life in the American West, his continued attachments to western landscapes and inhabitants, his research with Native Americans, and the writing of his classic work, Theory of Culture Change. Extracting the personal and professional experiences that shaped his ideas on labor, technology, and the natural world, Kerns focuses particularly on the ideas and experiences that gave rise to Steward's theory of cultural ecology and most influenced American anthropology. men's labor, Kerns illustrates how Steward's concept of the patrilineal band was central to his intellectual work and grounded in his own social experiences and autobiographical memory, especially memories of place.

Trees, Knots and Outriggers (Kaynen Muyuw) is the culmination of twenty-five years of work by Frederick H. Damon and his attention to cultural adaptations to the environment in Melanesia. Damon details the intricacies of indigenous knowledge and practice in his sweeping synthesis of symbolic and structuralist anthropology with recent developments in historical ecology. This book is a long conversation between the author's many Papua New Guinea informants, teachers and friends, and scientists in Australia, Europe and the United States, in which a spirit of adventure and discovery is palpable.