Terrestrial Transformations: A Political Ecology Approach to Society and Nature

Humanity’s future may rest on how we deal with climate change, environmental problems, and their impacts on society. Terrestrial Transformations: A Political Ecology Approach to Society and Nature recognizes that such problems have social, political, and cultural contexts, and that politics, money, and power have physical impacts on nature and society that cannot be ignored. This book brings together a set of authors whose chapters provide an overview of the political ecology approach, illustrating its theoretical underpinnings, central concepts, methods, and major interests. The chapters in this collection examine the political contexts of a broad range of environmental and social problems, drawing attention to the political and economic forces driving environmental and ecological problems, how societies are transformed as they attempt to cope and adapt to a changing nature, and who pays the price.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments Introduction Thomas K. Park and James B. Greenberg Chapter 1. The Anthropocene and other noxious concepts Thomas K. Park and James B. Greenberg Chapter 2. The Political Ecology of Climate Change James B. Greenberg and Thomas K. Park Chapter 3. Digital Sensing and Human-Environment Relationships in the Face of Climate Variability in Senegal and Mauritania Thomas K. Park, Aminata Niang and Mamadou Baro Chapter 4. The Political Ecology of Languagelessness of the Southwest North American Region: Case Studies in the Linguistic Commoditization of Mexican Origin People Carlos Vélez-Ibáñez Chapter 5. Political Ecology of Guitars and their Tonewoods James B. Greenberg Chapter 6. Indigenous responses to colonialism in an island state: a geopolitical ecology of Kanaky-New Caledonia Simon Batterbury, Séverine Bouard, and Matthias Kowasch Chapter 7. An Everyday Politics of Access: The Political Ecology of Infrastructure in Cape Town’s Informal Settlements Angela Storey Chapter 8. Land Tenure Issues and Socio-Political Challenges in Mauritania Mamadou Baro Chapter 9. Complicity and Resistance in the Indigenous Amazon: Economia Indigena Under Siege Alaka Wali Chapter 10. Dolphin Hunters or Dolphin Saviors: Cultural Identity Choices Under Intensifying Sea Level Rise, Cash-Dependence, and a New Eco-Christian Conservation Sarah Keen Meltzoff Chapter 11. When Pachamama is Left Hungry: Healing and Misfortune in the Atacama Desert Anita Carrasco Chapter 12. Place Matters: Tracking Coastal Restoration after the Deepwater Horizon Diane Austin and Victoria Phaneuf Chapter 13. Practicing Political Ecology in the New Restoration Economy Ravic P. Nijbroek Chapter 14. Nature conservation and the ambiguous human-nature relationship Ylva Uggla Chapter 15. Hope and Possibility for Transformation in Ordinary Acts of Well-Being on a Bicycle-Pedestrian Trail Lisa L. Gezon Conclusion James B. Greenberg, Thomas K. Park, Simon Batterbury, Casey Walsh, Edward Liebow References Index About the Editors & Contributors

About the Author :
Thomas K. Park is professor of anthropology at the University of Arizona. James B. Greenberg is professor emeritus at the University of Arizona.

Review :
The central point of political ecology, the crucial role of power and inequality, has proven essential in unraveling our environmental challenges. This deep, smart volume provides the state of the art in political ecology. This book gives a powerful and critical view of the anthropocene from a political ecology perspective. This historically grounded analysis reveals the urgent need to address the social and global inequalities in current discussions of the climate crisis.