The Environment in Anthropology, Second Edition: A Reader in Ecology, Culture, and Sustainable Living / Edition 2

by Nora Haenn, Allison Harnish, Richard Wilk

Overview

Presents ecology and current environmental studies from an anthropological point of view

The Environment in Anthropology presents ecology and current environmental studies from an anthropological point of view. From the classics to the most current scholarship, this text connects the theory and practice in environment and anthropology, providing readers with a strong intellectual foundation as well as offering practical tools for solving environmental problems.

Haenn, Wilk, and Harnish pose the most urgent questions of environmental protection: How are environmental problems mediated by cultural values? What are the environmental effects of urbanization? When do environmentalists’ goals and actions conflict with those of indigenous peoples? How can we assess the impact of “environmentally correct” businesses? They also cover the fundamental topics of population growth, large scale development, biodiversity conservation, sustainable environmental management, indigenous groups, consumption, and globalization.

This revised edition addresses new topics such as water, toxic waste, neoliberalism, environmental history, environmental activism, and REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation), and it situates anthropology in the multi-disciplinary field of environmental research. It also offers readers a guide for developing their own plan for environmental action. This volume offers an introduction to the breadth of ecological and environmental anthropology as well as to its historical trends and current developments. Balancing landmark essays with cutting-edge scholarship, bridging theory and practice, and offering suggestions for further reading and new directions for research, The Environment in Anthropology continues to provide the ideal introduction to a burgeoning field.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781479876761
Publisher:	New York University Press
Publication date:	04/26/2016
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	592
Product dimensions:	6.90(w) x 9.90(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Nora Haenn (Editor)
Nora Haenn is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Arizona State University. She is author of Fields of Power, Forests of Discontent: Culture, Conservation, and the State in Mexico.

Allison Harnish (Editor)
Allison Harnish is Associate Professor of Anthropology at Albion College. She is the editor of The Environment in Anthropology: A Reader in Ecology, Culture, and Sustainable Living.

Richard Wilk (Editor)
Richard Wilk is Distinguished Professor and Provost's Professor of Anthropology at Indiana University, where he directs the Food Studies Program. He is the author of Economics and Cultures: Foundations of Economic Anthropology.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

General Introduction 1

Section 1 So, What Is Environmental Anthropology? 3

1 The Concept and Method of Cultural Ecology Julian Steward 12

2 Smallholders, Householders Robert McC. Netting 18

3 False Forest History, Complicit Social Analysis: Rethinking Some West African Environmental Narratives James Fairhead Melissa Leach 24

4 Gender and Environment: A Feminist Political Ecology Perspective Dianne Rocheleau Barbara Thomas-Slayter Esther Wangari 34

5 A View from a Point: Ethnoecology as Situated Knowledge Virginia D. Nazarea 41

6 Ethics Primer for University Students Intending to Become Natural Resources Managers and Administrators Richard J. McNeil 48

Section 2 What does Population Have to do With it? 57

7 Ester Boserups Theory of Agrarian Change: A Critical Review David Grigg 64

8 The Benefits of the Commons Fikret Berkes David Feeny Bonnie J. McCoy James M. Acheson 68

9 7 Billion and Counting David Bloom 75

10 Rural Household Demographics, Livelihoods, and the Environment Alex de Sherbinin Leah VanWey Kendra McSweeney Rimjhim Aggarwal Alisson Barbieri Sabine Henry Lori M. Hunter Wayne Twine Robert Walker 79

11 Carrying Capacity's New Guise: Folk Models for Public Debate and Longitudinal Study of Environmental Change Lisa Cliggett 91

12 The Environment as Geopolitical Threat: Reading Robert Kaplan's "Coming Anarchy" Simon Dalby 102

Section 3 What are Urban, Rural, and Suburban Environments? 117

13 The Growth of World Urbanism Charles Redman 124

14 Economic Growth and the Environment Theodore Panayotou 140

15 Bhopal: Vulnerability, Routinization, and the Chronic Disaster S. Ravi Rajan 149

16 The Lawn-Chemical Economy and Its Discontents Paul Robbins Julie Sharp 159

17 Addictive Economies and Coal Dependency: Methods of Extraction and Socioeconomic Outcomes in West Virginia, 1997-2009 Robert Todd. Perdue Gregory Pavela 170

18 The Anti-Politics Machine: "Development" and Bureaucratic Power in Lesotho James Ferguson Larry Lohmann 185

Section 4 How does Globalization Affect Environment and Culture? 197

19 How Do We Know We Have Global Environmental Problems? Science and the Globalization of Environmental Discourse Peter J. Taylor Frederick H. Buttel 202

20 Bottled Water: The Pure Commodity in the Age of Branding Richard R. Wilk 214

21 Indigenous Initiatives and Petroleum Politics in the Ecuadorian Amazon Suzana Sawyer 222

22 Land Tenure and REDD+: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Anne M. Larson Maria Brockhaus William D. Sunderlin Amy Duchelle Andrea Babon Therese Dokken Thu Thuy Pham I. A. P. Resosudarmo Galia Selaya Abdon Awono Thu-Ba Huynh 229

23 Friction: An Ethnography of Global Connection Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing 241

Section 5 How do Identities shape Ecological Experiences? 245

24 Cultural Theory and Environmentalism Kay Milton 250

25 Endangered Forests, Endangered People: Environmentalist Representations of Indigenous Knowledge J. Peter Brosius 254

26 The Nature of Gender: Gender, Work, and Environment Andrea Nightingale 274

27 "But I Know It's True": Environmental Risk Assessment, Justice, and Anthropology Melissa Checker 286

28 Bringing the Moral Economy Back in … to the Study of 21st-century Transnational Peasant Movements Marc Edelman 300

29 How to Queer Ecology: One Goose at a Time Alex Carr Johnson 310

Section 6 Can Biodiversity Be Conserved? 317

30 Neoliberal Conservation: A Brief Introduction Jim Igoe Dan Brockington 324

31 The Power of Environmental Knowledge: Ethnoecology and Environmental Conflicts in Mexican Conservation Nora Haenn 332

32 Radical Ecology and Conservation Science: An Australian Perspective Libby Robin 344

33 Stolen Apes: The Illicit Trade in Chimpanzees, Gorillas, Bonobos, and Orangutans Daniel Stiles Ian Redmond Doug Cress Christian Nellemann Rannveig Knutsdatter Formo 359

34 Difference and Conflict in the Struggle over Natural Resources: A Political Ecology Framework Arturo Escobar 362

Section 7 Is Green Consumerism The Answer? 369

35 The Invisible Giant: Cargill and Its Transnational Strategies Brewster Kneen 373

36 Treading Lightly? Ecotourism's Impact on the Environment Martha Honey 380

37 What Is Degrowth? From an Activist Slogan to a Social Movement Federico Demaria François Schneider Filka Sekulova Joan Martinez-Alier 390

38 Protecting the Environment the Natural Way: Ethical Consumption and Commodity Fetishism James G. Carrier 401

Section 8 Okay, Now What? 411

39 Living Up to Our Words Paul Durrenberger 416

40 Social Responsibility and the Anthropological Citizen Barbara Rose Johnston 423

41 World Is Burning, Sky Is Falling, All Hands on Deck! Reflections on Engaged and Action-Oriented Socio-Environmental Scholarship Garrett Graddy-Lovelace Allison Harnish Julianne A. Hazlewood 445

42 A Wonderfully Incomplete Bibliography of Action-Oriented Anthropology and Applied Environmental Social Science Allison Harnish Julianne A. Hazlewood Amanda Bedker Sydney Roeder 482

Contributors 509

Index 519

Editorial Reviews

"The Environment in Anthropology reads like a 'Greatest Hits' of environmental anthropology in recent years. I have taught many of these authors and concepts due to their engaging tone and critical edge; it is empowering to have them all collected here, in a volume structured for conceptual and chronological clarity, without foreclosing on the creativity of this field, still so much under construction. This volume stands as an assemblage of excellent work that invites further contributions. It showcases the range of epistemic approaches and contexts from which what we might call new environmental anthropology is currently emerging."

Rebecca Hardin

"Provides the theoretical refinements and ethnographic illustrations necessary for students to grasp the local and the global complexities of environmental anthropology in the 21st century. This text is pedagogically sophisticated, facilitating cognitive development by engaging students in a cultural critique of dominant Western ideologies and institutions and challenging them to consider their individual options for not only a sustainable future, but a more meaningful life."

Barbara J. Dilly

"Provides the theoretical refinements and ethnographic illustrations necessary for students to grasp the local and the global complexities of environmental anthropology in the 21st century. This text is pedagogically sophisticated, facilitating cognitive development by engaging students in a cultural critique of dominant Western ideologies and institutions and challenging them to consider their individual options for not only a sustainable future, but a more meaningful life."-Barbara J. Dilly,Creighton University

" The Environment in Anthropology reads like a 'Greatest Hits' of environmental anthropology in recent years. I have taught many of these authors and concepts due to their engaging tone and critical edge; it is empowering to have them all collected here, in a volume structured for conceptual and chronological clarity, without foreclosing on the creativity of this field, still so much under construction. This volume stands as an assemblage of excellent work that invites further contributions. It showcases the range of epistemic approaches and contexts from which what we might call new environmental anthropology is currently emerging."-Rebecca Hardin,University of Michigan

From the Publisher