98927 - ANTHROPOLOGY OF CLIMATE CHANGE

Learning outcomes

The course introduces students to anthropological contributions to understanding anthropogenic climate change and towards efforts to address its effects and its causes. Students will learn to apply anthropological theory to key themes in the field of climate change such as the production of scientific knowledge, activism, conflict, political debate and diplomacy. They will become familiar with indigenous, gendered and decolonial perspectives, the role of local ecological knowledge for producing evidence and for adaptation and mitigation, and holistic approaches to energy technology transitions. Students will learn to articulate climate change in terms of ecological dependencies between human communities and soil, air, forests and water. They will engage actively with ethnographic case studies to be read in advance of class discussions, as a basis for developing critical insight into the multidimensional problem of climate crisis. Through the requirement to produce brief original studies on the subject, they will gain independent research and presentation skills

Course contents

After a general introduction to the anthropology of sustainability which introduces key themes such as environmental justice, gender, and colonialism, we will cover a series of themes related to climate change to which anthropology has made significant contributions: the anthropology of carbon and energy infrastructures; growth and degrowth; social movements and activism; migration; concepts of nature, progress and ontology; gendered and indigenous perspectives; food, agriculture and fisheries; forest management and conservation; climate finance.

Readings/Bibliography

Preliminary/ introductory reading:

Crate, S. and M. Nutall 2016. Anthropology and Climate Change: From Actions to Transformations. London: Routledge.

Hoffman, S., T. Hylland Eriken and P. Mendes. 2022. Cooling Down: Local responses to global climate change. New York: Berghahn.

Teaching methods

The course will be taught on the Ravenna campus only. It will rely mostly upon the discussion of ethnographic case studies, and all students must therefore attend the classes. The sessions will alternate between lectures, followed by open discussion, and student-led seminars, based on readings for that week. Before lecture classes, all students must read at least three of the texts in advance, and prepare notes and a set of points for discussion. For seminar classes, two or more students will prepare a class presentation for each seminar, based on that week’s theme, using class readings, accompanied by slides, lasting between 8 and 10 minutes. This material will form the basis of an open discussion to delve more deeply into the themes that emerge.

Assessment methods

Assessment will be through oral examination, during which students must discuss an essay of c. 3000 words, on a theme based on the course, to be agreed with Prof. Brightman, which they must submit at least one week before the examination. The best essays will be published on the SCALa (anthropology lab)website. Students should demonstrate initiative and are strongly encouraged to explore readings beyond the course bibliography, and to draw on their own experience, fieldwork etc. The argument of the essay must engage with anthropological theory, and points must be substantiated with ethnographic evidence.

Students are also recommended to familiarise themselves with one or two detailed ethnographic case studies, which they can use to illustrate ideas discussed during the course.

As well as book length monographs, it is vital to explore recent work published in major anthropology journals, such as Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, American Anthropologist, American Ethnologist, Cultural Anthropology, Social Anthropology, Current Anthropology, L'Homme (in French) or Mana (in Portuguese).

Office hours

See the website of Marc Andrew Brightman