https://doi.org/10.4081/jbr.2022.10377
From nature to man: Environmental anthropology in the Anthropocene
Submitted: January 23, 2022
Accepted: March 21, 2022
Published: April 12, 2022
Accepted: March 21, 2022
Abstract Views: 1611
PDF: 549
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
Authors
The dramatic changes brought by the relationship between humans and their natural environments by different human activities such as the exploitation of natural resources and use of fossil fuels threatens humanity at large. Beside considerable disagreements on when Anthropocene began, it is considered an epochal transformation linked to deterioration of global ecologies, loss of biodiversity and environmental degradation. Environmental anthropologists are contributing both theoretically and by important ethnographic insights in analyzing and understanding the consequences of climate changes in socio-ecological systems worldwide. In this article we provide an overview of main theoretical contributions during the development of environmental anthropology as a discipline. In addition, we highlight the possible Cultural Evolution theory (CE) contribution in climate changes consequences to a socio-ecological system.
Crutzen PJ. Geology of Mankind. Nature 2002;415:23.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/415023a
Brondizio, ES. Re-conceptualization the Anthropocene: A call for collaboration. Global Environ Chang 2016;39:318-27.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2016.02.006
Ruddiman WF. Three flaws in defining a formal “Anthropocene”. Prog Phys Geog 2018;42:451-61.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0309133318783142
Rull V. The “Anthropocene”: Neglects, misconceptions, and possible futures. EMBO Rep 2017;18:1056-60.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15252/embr.201744231
Autin WJ, Hoolbook JM. Is the anthropocene an issue of stratigraphy or pop culture? GSA Today 2012;22:60-1.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1130/G153GW.1
Chernilo D. The question of the human in the Anthropocene debate. Eur J Soc Theory 2016;20:44-60.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1368431016651874
Visconti G. Anthropocene: Another academic invention? Rend Lincei- Sci Fis 2014;25:381-92.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12210-014-0317-x
Zalasiewicz J, Waters CN, Ivar do Sul, JA, et al. The geological cycle of plastic and their use as a stratigraphic indicator of the Anthropocene. Anthropocene Rev 2016;13:4-17.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ancene.2016.01.002
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Climate change 2014: Mitigation of climate change. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press; 2015.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107415416
Nash NC, Capstick S, Whitmarsh L, et al. Perceptions of local environmental issues and the relevance of climate change in Nepal’s Terai: Perspectives from two communities. Front Sociol 2019;4:60.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2019.00060
Cartwright E. The medical anthropology of climate change: Eco-risks and the body environmental. Med Anthropol 2019;38:436-9.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01459740.2019.1621866
Evans GW. Projected behavioral impacts of global climate change. Annu Rev Psychol 2019;70:449-74.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-010418-103023
Carlsson-Kanyama A, Gonzales AD. Potential contributions of food consumption patterns to climate change. Am J Clin Nutr 2009;89:1704S-9S.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.2009.26736AA
Vermeulen SJ, Campbell BM, Ingram JSI. Climate change and food systems. Annu Rev Env Resour 2012;37:195-222.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-environ-020411-130608
Myers SS, Smith MR, Guth S, Golden CD. Climate change and global food systems. Annu Rev Public Health 2017;38:259-77.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-031816-044356
Barnes J, Dove M, Lahsen M, et al. Contribution of anthropology to the study of climate change. Nat Clim Change 2013;3:541-44.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1775
Morey NC, Luthans F. An emic perspective and ethnoscience methods for organizational research. The Academy of Management Review 1984;9:27-36.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1984.4277836
McNeill JR. Observation on the nature and culture of environmental history. History and Theory 2003;42:5-43.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1468-2303.2003.00255.x
Vayda A, McCay BJ. New directions in ecology and ecological anthropology. Annu Rev Anthropol 1975;4:293-306.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.an.04.100175.001453
Little PE. Environments and environmentalism in anthropological research: Facing a new millennium. Annu Rev Anthropol 1999;28:253-84.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.anthro.28.1.253
Stanford M. The cultural evolution of human nature. Acta Biotheor 2020;68:275-85.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10441-019-09367-7
Helms MW. On Julian Steward and the nature of culture. Am Ethanol 1978;5:170-83.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/ae.1978.5.1.02a00130
Orlove BS. Ecological anthropology. Annu Rev Anthropol 1980;9:235-73.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.an.09.100180.001315
Rappaport RA. Ritual regulation of environmental relations among a New Guinea people. Ethnology 1967;6:17–30.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/3772735
Harris M. The rise of anthropological theory. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company; 1968.
Fabinyi M, Evans L, Foale SJ. Socio-ecological systems, social diversity, and power: Insights from anthropology and political ecology. Ecol Soc 2014;19:28.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-07029-190428
Ratzlaff ED. Applications of engineering systems. Analysis to the human social-ecological system. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Davis, USA. Thesis.1970.
Folke C, Berkes F. Understanding dynamics of ecosystem-institution linkages for building resilience. Beijer Discussion Paper No. 112. The Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics, Royal Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden. 1998.
Colding J, Barthel S. Exploring the socio-ecological systems discourse 20 years later. Ecol Soc 2019;24:2.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-10598-240102
Odling-Smee FJ. Niche constructing phenotypes. In: Plotkin, editor. The role of behavior in evolution. Cambridge: MIT Press; 1988.
Odling-Smee FJ, Laland KN, Feldman MW. Niche construction: the neglected process in evolution. Princeton: Princeton University Press; 2003.
Lewontin RC. Gene, organism and environment. In: Bendall, ed. Evolution from molecules to men. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 1983.
Laland K, Matthews B, Feldman MW. An introduction to niche construction theory. Evol Ecol 2016;191-202.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10682-016-9821-z
O’Brien MJ, Laland K. Genes, culture and agriculture: An example of human niche construction. Curr Anthropol 2012;53:434-70.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/666585
Tomasello M. The human adapation for culture. Annu Rev Anthropol 1999;28:509-29.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.anthro.28.1.509
Henrich J, McElreath R. The evolution of cultural evolution. Evol Anthropol 2003;12:123-35.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/evan.10110
Richerson PJ, Boyd R. Not by genes alone: How culture transformed human species. Chicago: University of Chicago Press; 2005.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226712130.001.0001
Brooks JS, Waring TM, Mulder MB, Richerson PJ. Applying cultural evolution to sustainability challenges: an introduction to special issue. Sustain Sci 2018;13:1-8.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-017-0516-3
Crate SA. Climate and culture: Anthropology in the era of contemporary climate change. Annu Rev Anthropol 2011;40:175-94.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.anthro.012809.104925
Orr Y, Lansing JS, Dove MR. Environmental anthropology: Systematic perspectives. Annu Rev Anthropol 2015;44:153-68.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-anthro-102214-014159
Wolverton S, Chambers KJ, Veteto JR. Climate change and ethnobiology. J Ethnobiol 2014;34:273-75.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2993/0278-0771-34.3.273
Santoro FS, Nascimento ALB, Soldati GT, et al. Evolutionary ethnobiology and cultural evolution: opportunities for research and dialogue. J Ethnobiol 2018;14:1.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13002-017-0199-y
Brondizio ES, Moran EF, eds. Human environment-interactions: Current and future directions. Springer; 2013.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4780-7
Perreault C. The pace of cultural evolution. PLoS One 2012;7:e41502012.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0045150
How to Cite
Bajrami, A. (2022). From nature to man: Environmental anthropology in the Anthropocene. Journal of Biological Research - Bollettino Della Società Italiana Di Biologia Sperimentale, 95(1). https://doi.org/10.4081/jbr.2022.10377
PAGEPress has chosen to apply the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) to all manuscripts to be published.