The Environment in Anthropology, Second Edition - 2nd Edition by Nora Haenn & Allison Harnish & Richard Wilk (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

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.

Review Quotes

"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

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.