Anthropology and Climate Change
From Transformations to Worldmaking
📘 About This Book
In this third edition of Anthropology and Climate Change, Susan Crate and Mark Nuttall offer a collection of chapters that examine how anthropologists work on climate change issues with their collaborators, both in academic research and practicing contexts, and discuss new developments in contributions to policy and adaptation at different scales. Building on the first edition’s pioneering focus on anthropology’s burgeoning contribution to climate change research, policy, and action, as well as the second edition’s focus on transformations and new directions for anthropological work on climate change, this new edition reveals the extent to which anthropologists’ contributions are considered to be critical by climate scientists, policymakers, affected communities, and other rights-holders. Drawing on a range of ethnographic and policy issues, this book highlights the work of anthropologists in the full range of contexts – as scholars, educators, and practitioners from academic institutions to government bodies, international science agencies and foundations, working in interdisciplinary research teams and with community research partners. The contributions to this new edition showcase important new academic research, as well as applied and practicing approaches. They emphasize human agency in the archaeological record, the rapid development in the last decade of community-based and community-driven research and disaster research; provide rich ethnographic insight into worldmaking practices, interventions, and collaborations; and discuss how, and in what ways, anthropologists work in policy areas and engage with regional and global assessments. This new edition is essential for established scholars and for students in anthropology and a range of other disciplines, including environmental studies, as well as for practitioners who engage with anthropological studies of climate change in their work.
📖 Summary
Anthropology and Climate Change, edited by Susan A. Crate and Mark Nuttall, represents the third edition of a seminal text that maps the evolving intersection of anthropological research and global climate dynamics. Spanning 449 pages, this comprehensive social science volume brings together a rich collection of chapters illustrating how anthropologists engage with climate change issues alongside diverse collaborators. Rather than viewing climate change purely as an environmental or meteorological crisis, the contributors approach it as an intensely human, cultural, and political reality that demands localized and holistic perspectives. Building firmly upon the foundations laid by the first edition, which pioneered anthropology's burgeoning contributions to climate research, policy, and action, and the second edition, which emphasized transformations and new methodological directions, this third edition demonstrates a maturation of the field. It reveals the extent to which anthropological insights are no longer supplementary, but are now considered critical by climate scientists, policymakers, affected communities, and various rights-holders worldwide. The book explores the day-to-day realities of anthropological fieldwork in both academic research and practicing contexts. It details how anthropologists work hand-in-hand with communities experiencing the immediate impacts of shifting weather patterns, rising sea levels, and ecological disruption. By documenting these local lived experiences, the authors bridge the gap between abstract global climate models and the grounded human stories that define the crisis. Furthermore, the collection addresses new developments in how anthropologists contribute to policy formulation and adaptation strategies at multiple scales. Whether examining policy frameworks at international summits or grassroots adaptation initiatives in vulnerable regions, the chapters emphasize the importance of scale and context. The book illustrates that effective climate action cannot be imposed from the top down; it requires deep engagement with local cultural frameworks, indigenous knowledge systems, and community values. Throughout the volume, Crate and Nuttall curate perspectives that highlight the resilience, vulnerability, and agency of human populations facing unprecedented environmental transformations. The book serves as both a retrospective on how the discipline of anthropology has risen to meet the defining crisis of our time and a forward-looking guide for future research, policy, and collaborative action. By centering human experiences within the broader narrative of global environmental change, Anthropology and Climate Change offers an indispensable resource for understanding the human dimensions of a warming planet.
🎯 Key Lessons
⚖️ Pros & Cons
✅ Pros
Provides a comprehensive and updated overview of anthropology's role in climate change studies.
Features diverse chapters exploring both academic research and practical applications.
Highlights the importance of community collaboration and indigenous knowledge.
Bridges the gap between macro-level climate policy and micro-level human experiences.
⚠️ Cons
May be too dense or academic for casual readers seeking a light introduction to climate change.
Focuses heavily on social science perspectives, which may require complementary reading on hard sciences for a complete picture.
❓ FAQ
Who edited Anthropology and Climate Change? +
The book was edited by Susan A. Crate and Mark Nuttall.
What edition is this book? +
This is the third edition of Anthropology and Climate Change, published in 2023.
How many pages does the book have? +
The book contains 449 pages.
What is the main focus of this third edition? +
It focuses on how anthropologists work with collaborators in academic and practicing contexts, contributing to policy and adaptation at different scales.
Who considers anthropological contributions to be critical according to the book? +
Climate scientists, policymakers, affected communities, and other rights-holders view these contributions as critical.
