Environmental Anthropology: Key Concepts and Discussions

Exploration of the study of humans’ relationships with nature.
Questions regarding modification, symbolism, and adaptation to surroundings have intrigued anthropologists since the discipline's inception.
This section establishes foundations for human-environment studies in anthropology and discusses recent trends in ecological anthropology.

Historical Context: Influential since the 1960s, per McGee and Warms (2012).
Focus begins with Julian Steward’s work from the 1950s.
- Steward explains cultural diversity and change as adaptations to environmental circumstances, contrasting with unilineal evolutionists like Lewis Henry Morgan and Sir Edward Burnett Tylor.
- Tylor's evolutionary belief highlighted a progression from animism to polytheism to monotheism, suggesting a universal development trajectory.

Steward proposes multilineal explanations for cultural similarities and differences that reject a single trajectory of development.
Cultural Ecology: Defined as “the study of the processes by which a society adapts to its environment” (Steward 1968).
- Methodology involves examining parallel social patterns in different cultures as adaptive responses to similar environmental settings.

Environmental Determinism: Examines the extent to which environmental features determine cultural formations.
Possibilism: Suggests environments only make certain cultural formations possible, with an emphasis on human creativity in adaptation.
By the 1950s, many anthropologists leaned towards possibilism, but determinism had lingering influence.

Steward’s concept of the "culture core" relates to the features associated with utilizing specific environments and seeks to understand how cultures exploit resources creatively.

Netting's seminal comparative study includes research on small-scale family farmers in Nigeria and the Alps.
- Concludes that households serve as effective management units for intensive agriculture, yielding sustainable living without negative impacts associated with large-scale farming.
- Early arguments advocating sustainability before the term became mainstream.
- Noted that most productive farming occurs without governmental interference due to forms of local political systems and knowledge.

Fairhead and Leach’s Research: Critique the narrative surrounding deforestation in Kissidougou, Guinea, suggesting local practices actually encouraged forest regeneration rather than destruction.
- Their research methodologies include local oral accounts and empirical observations to craft a counternarrative that contradicts colonial perspectives.

Political Ecology: Introduced by Eric Wolf, merges cultural ecology with dependency theory and world system theory, emphasizing historical inequalities affecting resource access and control.
This approach is widely applied in contemporary ecological anthropology, focusing on marginal social groups and justice issues.

Contributors: Dianne Rocheleau, Barbara Thomas-Slayter, Esther Wangari stress gender interactions with environmental issues, introducing feminist perspectives to political ecology.
- Key themes encompass gendered knowledge and environmental politics, examining cognitive frameworks shaped by social identities.

Other frameworks include Historical Ecology, Evolutionary Ecology, and Spiritual Ecology.
Ethnoecology: Focus on cross-cultural human perceptions and environmental utilization.
- Combines cultural ecology, biology, and linguistics to understand cognition's role in environmental behaviors.

Noted for detailed observations of Hanunóo practices, where he recorded over 1,600 plant varieties, highlighting the complexity of their agricultural system.
- Dismissed practices termed primitive by outsiders are, in fact, sustainable and ecologically beneficial under proper management.

Argue Western scientific communities often overlook indigenous knowledge, asserting superiority in environmental understanding.
Conklin’s findings supported the value of local environmental knowledge, asserting that certain forms of swidden farming could restore nutrient cycles and maintain biodiversity better than industrial practices.

Richard J. McNeil provides a discussion on ethics in ecological anthropology, describing challenges in integrating ethical considerations into environmental policies.
- Emphasizes the need for fluency in ethical discourse among ecological anthropologists.

Since Steward, ecological anthropology evolved from a niche interest to a diverse specialization with practitioners across academia, governmental and non-governmental organizations.
The terms "environmental anthropology" and "ecological anthropology" have varying definitions depending on the scope of study, application, and theoretical intentions.

Reflects broader anthropological transformations acknowledging that ecosystems are interconnected, and human actions partake in a global ecological system.
The “new ecological anthropology” aims to provide solutions to environmental issues through innovative methodologies and theoretical approaches.
- Scholars advocate focus on power structures, discourses, and identities affecting environmental situations.

Comprehensive list of references covering key scholars and texts that inform the evolving landscape of ecological anthropology. Key references include:
- Biersack, Aletta, 2006.
- Wolf, Eric, and various deposits on political ecology.

A series of questions designed to provoke thought about cultural ecology, smallholder sustainability, environmental narratives, feminist political ecology, and ethics.
Examples of specific questions:
- What is cultural ecology? Identify its fundamental procedures.
- How do narratives shape perceptions of human-environment relationships?