Environmentalism : the View From Anthropology

The environment is one of the liveliest and most topical issues of our day. In Environmentalism the contributors demonstrate that anthropology has a distinctive contribution to make to current debates on 'green' issues.
Drawing on studies in sociology and law, as well as anthropology, the contributors challenge the view that environmental issues are the province of natural science alone and explore the interdisciplinary nature of the environmental debate. The book brings together a wide range of studies, from environmental ideology and imagery, and environmental law and policy, through local environmental activism, to ethnographic analyses of human/environment relations in indigenous societies. The contributors raise key issues such as the effects of state interests and bureaucracies on environ mental activism, the cultural construction of 'hard' principles of law and policy, and the responses of indigenous peoples to industrial exploitation of their environments. They also explore important theoretical issues in anthro pology, including the globalization of culture, the analytical value of dualism and the relationship between anthropology and advocacy.
An important contribution to the 'green' debate from an anthropological perspective, Environmentalism also sheds new light on the boundaries between anthropology and other disciplines. It will be especially valuable to social scientists with an interest in environmentalism and human ecology and to people actively involved in environmental policy and planning.