12. Anthropology & Sustainability Flashcards
Human ecology?
The study of the complex relationships between humans and their environments.
Local understandings of people living in diverse ecosystems
What is crucial in order to develop a full etic perspective?
The emic perspective
Culture scale?
The scope or reach of culture implies the idea that smaller-scale societies are more sustainable than larger ones
Foragers’ relationship with the land?
They needed to have intimate knowledge of the local ecosystem in which they lived in.
Had a more reciprocal relationship with nature
How did the rise of intensive agriculture change our relationship with the land?
Large-scale cultivation altered the ecological balance
What happened during the industrialization?
Made the world interconnected by a complex web of people and resources
- Largely invisible to the consumer
The exploitation of underdeveloped areas for profit?
Social, economical, and political inequalities because the cause of many sustainability issues
The Great Acceleration 1950?
Demands for fuel, food, timber, water, and other natural resources exploded
Highest level of deforestation and destruction of ecosystems
Anthropocene Era?
The current era, in which humans have drastically altered the planet as a whole
Why did society shift its priorities from collective to individual needs?
- Child rearing, independence training
- Nuclear family, no or little obligations to the extended family or community
- Isolation people from each other and the natural worlds -> developed ownership and entitlement over the land
Planets resources?
Our planet has a closes-loop system with finite resources that can not support indefinite growth
Deine sustainability?
Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their one needs
The three pillars of sustainability?
Environmental
Social
Economic
Environmental sustainability?
The ability of the environment to renew resources and accommodate waste at the same rate as which resources are being used and waste generated
Social sustainability?
The ability of the social system (family, region, community, nation) to provide for the needs of their people so that they can attain a stable and healthy standard of living
Economic sustainability?
The ability of the economy to support indefinite growth while ensuring a minimum quality of life for all members of society
Economic development generally causes environmental degradation, what can we do about it?
Economic growth needs to find ways to address overconsumption and manage resource use and environmental impact
How do the three pillars of sustainability overlap?
If the environment is depleted, social structure will collapse and there will be no economic output.
Therefore, we should first and foremost focus on the environment
Participatory action research (PAR)?
An applied anthropological method of field research and implementation of solutions relies on close collaboration with the target community
- Empowering community actors with a sense of agency over their own circumstances
The tragedy of commons?
The idea that individual actors sharing a natural resource will inevitably act in their own best interest, eventually depleting the resource
What is seen as a solution to the trade of commons and how might it not work?
Privatization of resources by corporations and governmental regulation is seen as the only way to prevent ecological destruction
Unfortunately, conservation does not always result from these policies
Why is the model of “tready of commons” not universally applicable?
Individual users of an area may voluntarily cooperate to contain or conserve the use of resources -> self-regulating
Julian Steward?
First anthropologist to develop a paradigm ( set of concepts model) based on the iteration of people with their environment
Determinism?
Argues that the limitations of the environment determine peoples behavior
Cultural ecology? Julian Steward
A framework of understanding culture by examining the limitations of the environment and food-getting practices
Cultural core? Julian Steward
Feature of culture that is similar in societies practicing the same food-getting strategies, an aspect of cultural ecology
Multilinear cultural evolution?
The idea that the social structure of a group is directly tied to the demand of its environment
Universal (or lineal) evolution?
An outdated idea that all cultural groups progress through the same stages of modernization, from simple to complex
Ecological anthropology?
A framework of understanding culture that uses systems theory to understand a population as a closed-loop system
System theory?
A model of understanding an ecosystem that assumes that its a closed-loop system with finite resources.
Assumes that cultural practices exist to fulfill the needs of human life
Political ecology?
A framework of understanding culture that focuses on the complex relationships between the environment, economics, and politics
Environmental anthropologist?
An anthropologist interested in the relationship between people and the environment
Ethnoecologists?
A person who studies the interactions a group of people have with their natural environment, especially use of flora and fauna
Traditional Ecological Knowledge? (TEK)
The collective and cumulative knowledge that a group of people had gained over many generations living in their particular ecosystem
How can TEK be applied in policy-making and when can it get problematic?
Use knowledge to plan for resource management and long-term sustainability in a given area
Problematic when the knowledge is put out of its cultural context and simply used as a piece of data
Population growth?
- The world’s population is growing faster than resources can support it
- Fewer resources for the majority of the worlds people and environmental depletion
We have enough food to feed the whole population, why does food insecurity still exist?
Unequally distributed
Conflict minerals?
Natural resources mined in an area where there is conflict (such as civil war) and used to fuel or fund the conflict, commit crimes, or perpetrate human rights abuses
Climate change?
- Contributes to unpredictable and sporadic extreme weather which makes agriculture suffer major losses
- Inhabitants, ecosystems, and biodiversity is all effected
- Social and political inequality, some are affected more than others
Natural disasters & environmental inequality?
Climate change has devastating effects on people of island nations -> climate refugees
The poorest nations suffer the most
34 areas of the world have been identified as biodiversity hotspots. Strong correction with what and why?
Diversity of languages
- Do not need to compete for the same resources -> high social distance
- Historical context, less affected by European settlers
What can anthropological practice and theory to learn from an emic perspective be used for?
These insights can provide a deeper knowledge for scientific understandings
How can anthropologists help by bringing their knowledge of human history and societies to the larger public?
Helping people understand the effects of their actions
Individual stories have a better effect than statistics because it evokes compassion and is more likely to change behavior
What can anthropologist do when they teach at universities and colleges?
Have the potential to affect major change
Food Sovereignty?
Asserting right over local food sources, knowledge, livelihoods, traditions, and the enviroment
