Ecological and Environmental Anthropology (University of Georgia)

Review of After Collapse: The Regeneration of Complex Societies by Glenn M. Schwartz and John J. Nichols

Kelly Orr — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:15:30 PDT

Studies of sociopolitical change in early complex societies tend to focus on the emergence, florescence, and collapse of state-level polities with minimal attention to post-collapse processes such as dissolution, reorganization, and regeneration. Most archaeologists recognize the inherent instability and cyclical nature of early complex societies, particularly since the publication of The Collapse of Ancient States and Civilizations edited by Yoffee and Cowgill (1988) and Collapse of Complex Societies by Tainter (1988). After Collapse: The Regeneration of Complex Societies follows up these publications by extending the study of sociopolitical change to include post-collapse processes. Schwartz and Nichols organize the volume into a series of case studies, most of which were originally presented at the 68th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

A Landscape of Possibilities: Seeking Food Security in Matutúine District, Mozambique

L. Jen Shaffer — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:15:29 PDT

Food security for many Africans requires exploiting a wide variety of resources. People living on the coastal savanna of southern Mozambique use the landscape’s diversity to supplement domestic food production. This photo essay highlights the variety of resources used and problems faced in achieving food security in two communities in Matutúine District, Mozambique.

Ecology & Anthropology: A Field Without Future?

Gerald Schmidt — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:15:29 PDT

Many disciplines take part in the discourse on sustainability. Sustainability science tends to focus on the side of nature and to misunderstand the human condition; social sciences tend to focus on their respective specialties and on “nature” as concept, but rarely take ecological reality into account. Environmental and ecological anthropology as disciplines that address both sides are in a peculiar position. They move beyond the dualism of nature-culture to a holistic view on ecological and cultural realities in their intrinsic connectedness. Their input will become more important as sustainability is considered in abstracted discussion (e.g. academic and activist discourse), but not in individually and (inter-) culturally relevant terms, as sustainability discourse looks towards practice as an issue of “the economy” and technology, but not as an aspect of culture (as world view and as normal way of life, of which the economy is only a subset).

Ecology & Anthropology: A Field Without Future?

Gerald Schmidt — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:15:28 PDT

Review of Ethnobotany and Conservation of Biocultural Diversity (Advances in Economic Botany, V. 15) by Thomas J.S. Carlson and Luisa Maffi

Jen Shaffer — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:15:28 PDT

A growing recognition of humans as intrinsic parts of ecosystems implies that consideration of human activities and needs is as essential to successful conservation planning, as consideration of other species. Carlson and Maffi organize this volume of papers, given at the Sixteenth International Botanical Congress in 1999, into three sections. Part one focuses on indigenous knowledge and the creation/conservation of biodiversity in the Amazon Basin. Part two examines knowledge and sustainable use of plant resources in the Amazon Basin, sub-Saharan Africa, and Northern Vietnam. The book finishes with a section concerning ethical issues surrounding ethnobiological research and its dissemination – all too important in today’s global culture.

Review of The Knowledge of Healing by Franz Reichle

Tammy Watkins — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:15:27 PDT

“The Knowledge of Healing” is the name of ancient documents passed down to Tibetan medical practitioners and it is also the name of a film documenting this practice and its influences around the globe. In the 17th century botanical knowledge along with knowledge and theories regarding anatomy, physiology and illness were collected and transcribed into documents that serve as a reference for Tibetan medical practitioners in the film. It is remarkable that eighteen of the illnesses covered in the documents are diseases of the future and due to ‘the environments of the future’.

To Beef or Not to Beef: Defining Food Security and Insecurity in Tucumán Argentina

Ariela Zycherman — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:15:26 PDT

Anthropologists have had a long and rich history of drawing out the cultural importance of diet and the beliefs and rituals that are associated with it. Many anthropologists combine this knowledge with biological data to create a more comprehensive understanding of the diet. This skill becomes particularly important in understanding the difficulties of defining terms like food security and food insecurity among vulnerable populations. Popular working definitions focus primarily on the diet as being a nutritious entity that leads to a healthy and active lifestyle. While these definitions weigh heavily on the biological importance of diet, they deal with the issue of culturally relevant foods by using the term ‘food preference’, not considering the possibility that preferential foods and the way they are eaten can be in direct opposition to a nutritious and healthy life style. In the case of Tucumán, Argentina the preference for a beef-centric diet is associated, by government institutions, with malnutrition and a host of other health related problems throughout the province. However, local cultural definitions in Tucumán define food security as having beef as a daily component of the diet. Associated with this definition are various beliefs surrounding health, national identity, and family. Within these definitions Households and individuals are willing to go to great lengths, despite economic and health hardships to insure the daily presence of beef in their everyday lives. The result of these divergent definitions is that one interpretation of food security is understood by another to be food insecurity. This paper is a work in progress and explores how local definitions of food security and food insecurity play a role in daily diet maintenance and how these local definitions may conflict with the broader institutional and nutritionally based definitions.

Review of Skin: A Natural History by Nina G. Jablonski

Patrick Huff — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:01:53 PDT

In recent years, there seems to have been a wave of new books focused on mundane items of daily life. A list of the subjects of these books reads like a catalogue of commodities: coal, salt, cod, tobacco, coffee, cotton, not to mention various works dealing with commodities of the shadow economy such as cocaine, cannabis and heroin. These books seem to comprise a growing genre of popular non-fiction that might be called commodity biographies wherein the major narrative focus is on explicating the histories and everyday uses and abuses of perennially popular and ubiquitous items. Nina G. Jablonski’s Skin: A Natural History (2006) is unique among the aforementioned volumes because its central biographic “character” is not a commodity at all, but is certainly more ubiquitous and has been used and abused on a much more intimate basis than any commodity in history.

Review of Half-Lives & Half-Truths: Confronting the Radioactive Legacies of the Cold War by Barbara Rose Johnson

Amber Huff — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:01:52 PDT

Conventional wisdom holds that the twentieth century nuclear arms race effectively avoided global nuclear war and its consequences through the doctrine of mutual assured destruction. In reality, the cold war was not “cold” at all, but characterized by a series conflicts and crises with political, economic and sociocultural legacies that continue to structure world politics into the 21st century. Possibly the most profound but often overlooked consequences of this period are the long-term effects of nuclear militarism on human and environmental health. In Half-Lives & Half-Truths: Confronting the Radioactive Legacies of the Cold War, edited by Barbara Rose Johnson, contributing anthropologists and advocates tackle issues relating to the production of scientific knowledge and the wide-ranging effects of nuclear weapons development, manufacture, testing, and proliferation.

Review of The Organ Pipe Cactus by David Yetman

Geoff Kelley — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:01:51 PDT

The Organ Pipe Cactus combines historical, interview, and field observation data to plea for greater awareness, appreciation, and conservation of the organ pipe cactus (Stenocereus thurberi) – pitaya as it is commonly known in the Sonoran Desert, Mexico. This short book (70 pages including excellent illustrations, glossary, references, and index) seeks to emphasize how (mostly impoverished) human communities have utilized and maintained the plant for centuries.
Yetman’s coverage of pitaya ecology is thorough and recognizes the roles humans have played in the plant’s distribution. Adaptations from cellular to landscape levels are explained with great clarity. Micro and macro habitat requirements are presented in such a way that is informative to both the ecological anthropologist and the casual lay reader. Yetman goes to great lengths to differentiate plant/population characteristics throughout its range, noting how changes in latitude, climate, soils, elevation, and community characteristics each influence pitaya distribution, morphology, life cycle, and fruit production. The symbiotic relationship between organ pipes and the bird and insect pollinators crucial to their survival is noted. Yetman details thoroughly how to distinguish the organ pipe from other columnar cacti that share its range.

The Importance of Integrative Anthropology: A Preliminary Investigation Employing Primatological and Cultural Anthropological Data CollectionMethods in Assessing Human-Monkey Co-existence in Bali, Indonesia

James E. Loudon et al. — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:01:50 PDT

This study investigates the interplay between humans (Homo sapiens) and long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) living in sympatric associations at 11 Hindu temple sites on the island of Bali, Indonesia. Primatological methods were utilized to examine demography, habitat type, and record long-tailed macaque feeding, and ranging behavior. Additionally, interviews and questionnaires were conducted to ascertain Balinese individuals’ perspectives regarding the macaques, local folklores surrounding the macaques, the perceived level of human-macaque overlap, and the degree of crop raiding by the macaques. Ethnographic methods revealed that attitudes toward long-tailed macaques vary, suggesting that human perceptions are determined by religious/local folklores and potential economic variables. In contrast to reports of ubiquitous protection for the monkeys, informants revealed that macaques in some locations are hunted, eaten, captured, and illegally sold to animal dealers, thus providing important insights into our understanding of nonhuman primate conservation and the impact that each primate can have on the other's behavior.

A Methodology for Assessing Rural Livelihood Strategies in West/Central Africa: Lessons from the Field

Ruth Malleson et al. — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:01:49 PDT

This paper critically evaluates and discusses some of the methodological practicalities of applying a combined participatory and small-scale survey approach to investigating rural livelihood strategies of people living in the humid forest zone of Southwest Cameroon, Southeast Nigeria and Southwest Ghana, with particular reference to assessing the economic importance of non-timber forest products. It describes the sampling methods used to select study zones, settlements and households as well as the participatory techniques and instruments used to differentiate households and gather information on rural incomes. Details of the successes and problems encountered during implementation are presented. The challenges faced by those conducting this study are also encountered by others carrying out comparable research. By sharing our experiences, we hope that the design of similar conservation and development-based research can be improved.

Review of A Greener Faith: Religious Environmentalism and Our Planet’s Future by Roger S. Gottlieb

Nemer Narchi — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:01:49 PDT

One arena with the most diverse wealth of ideas is environmentalism. The environmental consequences experienced since the beginning of the industrial revolution and throughout the entire post-Fordian era have raised genuine concerns on how to combine the commodities of modernity with sustainability. These concerns have been discussed from different positions, one of which is Religious Environmentalism.

Review of Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv

Colleen Marie O'Brien — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:01:48 PDT

Like many other children growing up in the suburban United States during the 1970s, my childhood memories include swinging from tree limbs, tromping through the woods, and constructing tree forts in the far stretches of our neighborhood. But what happens when an entire generation of children grows up without such memories? Richard Louv, a New York Times journalist and founder of Connect for Kids, an internet-based child advocacy organization, explores this question in Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature Deficit Disorder. According to Louv, children today are more adept at naming cartoon characters than native species and overwhelmingly prefer indoor to outdoor play. Louv describes the physical, emotional, and cognitive effects of children’s disconnect from the natural world as “nature deficit disorder”. Although this is neither a medical term nor condition, Louv supports his theory with narratives drawn from his own childhood in Nebraska and from some of today’s foremost child development researchers and environmental writers. Louv also reaches beyond anecdotal evidence by providing recent research to support his claims.

Garifuna Land Rights and Ecotourism as Economic Development in Honduras’ Cayos Cochinos Marine Protected Area

Keri Vacanti Brondo et al. — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:20:18 PDT

Ecotourism has been embraced by a number of developing nations hoping to improve their economies in a way that is environmentally and socially responsible. The Afroindigenous Garifuna population located in the Cayos Cochinos, a Marine Protected Area (MPA), is undergoing a livelihood transition from fishing to ecotourism. This paper draws on ethnographic research conducted with Operation Wallacea (Opwall), a private scientific research expedition organization, to begin to explore the potential barriers to the promotion of ecotourism as an alternative livelihood strategy. The historical struggle for territorial control in the region is presented as having created distrust between the Garifuna communities reliant on MPA resources and the organizations working to conserve those resources. Funding priorities of conservation organizations working within the area are considered, and the impact of the relationship between the NGO that manages the local resources and its major funding source has on the ability of the Garifuna to control and manage their traditional resources is explored. Finally, Garifuna mobilization to regain control over local resources and economic development is discussed.

A Preliminary Review of Neotropical Primates in the Subsistence and Symbolism of Indigenous Lowland South American Peoples

Loretta Cormier — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:20:18 PDT

This article provides a review of selected literature of nonhuman primates in the subsistence and symbolism of indigenous lowland South American groups. While few works have focused specifically on the relationship between human and nonhuman primates in Amazonia and the surrounding areas, a number of ethnographic works do incorporate information about the roles of monkeys in varied groups. The section on subsistence focuses on the use of primates as food, including preferences, avoidances, and taboos. The section on symbolism focuses on the role of monkeys in myths, folklore, and in delineating the humanity/animality divide.

Review of Struggle Over Utah’s San Rafael Swell by Jeffrey Durrant

Michael Coughlan — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:20:17 PDT

Jeffrey O. Durrant’s Struggle Over Utah’s San Rafael Swell: Wilderness, National Conservation Areas, and National Monuments presents a history of the political conflict over public lands use and management of the canyon riddled landscape of central Utah. It examines the conflict using the content of the public record: journalistic media, governmental correspondence, mission statements and public statements of the stakeholder organizations, agencies and local governments involved. Struggle is at its core a journalistic narrative that unfortunately does not live up to the standards of an academic presentation of a recurrent political ecological theme in the American West. Indeed, Durrant reviews none of the relevant academic literature other than a standard recital of iconic works which serve to color his narrative rather than illuminate the reader (e.g. Aldo Leopold, John Muir, Carl Sauer).

Antropología y Diversidad Cultivada: Experiencias en Torno a la Biodiversidad Tradicional en el Sur de Extremadura, España

José Díaz Diego — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:20:16 PDT

This case study will show the potential of traditional agroecosystems to stimulate rural agricultural economies in Extremadura, Spain. Through anthropological work and botanical exploration in the project “Desemillas: Recuperación y puesta en valor de las variedades agrícolas tradicionales de Tentudía” this paper will discuss the current status of local plant genetic resources, traditional knowledge about their conservation and management, and the role of awareness and appreciation for the maintenance of cultivated biodiversity in the district of Tentudía (Badajoz, Spain).

La presente comunicación pretende exponer algunas consideraciones sobre el potencial de la biodiversidad tradicional para un nuevo impulso de la economía agraria rural en el contexto del sur de Extremadura. Desde la experiencia de trabajo antropológico y de prospección botánica en el proyecto “Desemillas: Recuperación y puesta en valor de las variedades agrícolas tradicionales de Tentudía”, se quiere en estas líneas esbozar la situación actual de los recursos fitogenéticos locales, el estado de conservación del conocimiento tradicional sobre su manejo y el papel de las actividades de sensibilización y revalorización para el mantenimiento de la biodiversidad cultivada en la Comarca de Tentudía (Badajoz, España).

Merging Qualitative and Quantitative Data in Mixed Methods Research: How To and Why Not

David L. Driscoll et al. — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:20:15 PDT

This study assesses the utility of mixed methods designs that integrate qualitative and quantitative data through a transformative process. Two strategies for collecting qualitative and quantitative datasets are described, and processes by which they can be merged are presented in detail. Some of the benefits of mixed methods designs are summarized and the shortcomings and challenges inherent in quantitizing qualitative data in mixed methods research are delineated.

A Message from the Editors

The Editors — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:20:14 PDT

The complex nature of ecological and environmental problems requires a multi-faceted approach to their understanding and solution. Ecological and environmental anthropology sounds interdisciplinary, but what exactly does that mean? And how does that differ from multidisciplinary? Numerous articles over the past 30 or so years have talked about this type of research and some researchers have braved the unknown to produce high-quality, interesting, and useful work. However, for various institutional reasons, true integration of methods and theories across disciplines remains difficult to achieve.