The Anthropology of Climate: Change An Integrated Critical Perspective

267 Pages·2018·3.351 MB·English

by  Hans A. Baer, Merrill Singer

THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF
CLIMATE CHANGE
In addressing the urgent questions raised by climate change, this book provides a
comprehensive overview of the anthropology of climate change, guided by a critical
political ecological framework. It examines the emergence and slow maturation of
the anthropology of climate change, reviews the historic foundations for this work
in the archaeology of climate change, and presents three alternative contemporary
theoretical perspectives in the anthropology of climate change.
This second edition is fully updated to include the most recent literature
published since the first edition in 2014. It also examines a number of new topics,
including an analysis of the 2014 American Anthropological Association’s Global
Climate Change Task Force report, a new case study on responses to climate change
in developed societies, and reference to the stance of the Trump administration on
climate change.
Not only does this book provide a valuable overview of the field and the key
literature, but it also gives researchers and students in Environmental Anthropology,
Climate Change, Human Geography, Sociology, and Political Science a novel
framework for understanding climate change that emphasizes human socioecological
interactions.
Hans A. Baer is Principal Honorary Research Fellow, School of Social and
Political Sciences, University of Melbourne, Australia.
Merrill Singer is Professor at the Departments of Anthropology and Community
Medicine, University of Connecticut, USA.
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Edited by Stephen Minas and Vassilis Ntousas
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Change-Research/book-series/RACCR)
THE ANTHROPOLOGY
OF CLIMATE CHANGE
An Integrated Critical Perspective
Second Edition
Hans A. Baer and Merrill Singer
Second edition published 2018
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2018 Hans A. Baer and Merrill Singer
The right of Hans A. Baer and Merrill Singer to be identified as authors
of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and
78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
First edition published by Routledge 2014
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Baer, Hans A., 1944- author. | Singer, Merrill, author.
Title: The anthropology of climate change : an integrated critical
perspective / Hans A. Baer and Merrill Singer.
Description: Second edition. | New York : Routledge is an imprint
of the Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa Business, 2018. |
Series: Routledge advances in climate change research | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017055882 (print) | LCCN 2018005594 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781351273121 (eBook) | ISBN 9781138574823 (Hardback) |
ISBN 9781138574847 (Paperback)
Subjects: LCSH: Human beings—Effect of climate on. | Climatic changes.
Classification: LCC GF71 (ebook) | LCC GF71. B34 2018 (print) |
DDC 304.2/5—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017055882
ISBN: 978-1-138-57482-3 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-57484-7 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-351-27312-1 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Keystroke, Neville Lodge, Tettenhall, Wolverhampton
CONTENTS
List of illustrations vii
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1 Climate turmoil: introducing a socioecological model of human
action, environmental impact, and mounting vulnerability 7
2 The emergence and maturation of the anthropology of
climate change 27
3 The archaeology of climate change 41
4 Theoretical perspectives in the anthropology of climate change 63
5 Case studies in the anthropology of climate change 87
6 Applications of anthropological research on climate change 141
7 What other social scientists are saying about climate change 166
8 Conclusion: toward a critical integrated social science of
climate change 208
References 220
Index 252

ILLUSTRATIONS
Figures
1.1 Socioecological framework for the anthropological study
of climate change 10
3.1 The geological and climatic epochs of Earth 42
4.1 Douglas’s grid–group model 72
4.2 The grid–group model with respect to views of nature 73
Table
5.1 Traditional calendar of the Kuilu Valley 113

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Our scholarly interest in climate change or global warming began in the hot summer
of 2005 while we were working on the first edition of Introducing Medical Anthropology
(AltaMira Press, 2007). In Chapter 7, “Health and the Environment,” of our text-
book we included a section on “The Impact of Global Warming on Health.”
Indirectly, this small effort led to a book titled Global Warming and the Political Ecology
of Health (Left Coast Press, 2009). Upon arriving at the University of Melbourne in
January 2006, Hans Baer quickly touched base with fellow academics as well
as students who share an interest in climate change. They include Peter Christoff,
Liam Cooper, Peter Dwyer, Jim Falk, James Goodman, Jonathan Marshall, Monica
Minnegal, Thomas Reuter, and Ariel Salleh. Hans joined forces with Verity
Burgmann, a political scientist at the University of Melbourne, in the writing of
Climate Politics and the Climate Movement in Australia (Melbourne University Press,
2012). He also collaborated with anthropologists interested in climate change at
various other universities and institutions. These include Marcus Barber, Megan
Jennaway, and Kay Milton (University of Auckland). Hans records his apprecia-
tion to the University of Melbourne for granting him a six-month study leave in
2009 to conduct research on Australian climate politics and the climate movement.
Merrill Singer would like to acknowledge support from a University of
Connecticut Provost’s General Education Course Development Grant that led to
the development of the course Global Climate Change and Human Societies and
helped advance his understanding of climate change from an anthropological
perspective. Merrill would also like to acknowledge colleagues at the University of
Connecticut with whom he has had many climate change discussions, including
Michael Willig and Peter Gunther.