The futures discussed in this book primarily arise from awareness of the potentially disruptive impact of climate change and ecological instability on human societies. Part of the paradox of cultural, social and ethical life in all societies is that it is directed towards a future that can never be observed, and never be directly acted upon, and yet is always interacting with us. As a result actions depend on imagination and political action. Future-loaded terms like 'anthropogenic climate change', 'food security', 'sustainability', 'energy security', and 'biodiversity' evoke a specific politics that privileges scientific or economic knowledge, while potentially suppressing the contestations within, and between, those knowledges. Remedies like carbon taxes, carbon trading, renewable energy and nature conservation risk obscuring forms of social and cultural difference in favour of the proposed moral unity of 'global humanity' on a threatened planet. These are 'holistic' projects that suppress parts of the world, or particular social dynamics, in favour of others.By contrast, this book's framework embraces an appreciation of difference and non-holism, as it is unlikely that one solution to the many disruptive futures perceived throughout the world can be found. Indeed any such 'one solution' may increase the disruptive effects found in local situations. Each chapter invites reflection on diverse ways of comprehending global warming and other manifestations of major environmental change, as well as on the forms, and shapers, of agency that influence people's understanding and response. In order to encourage the appreciation of the different future worlds either imagined and emergent in the present, the scope of the chapters extends beyond the usual geopolitical focus on the North Atlantic world, to encompass Nepal, islands in the Pacific, Sweden, coastal Scotland and remote, regional and urban Australia. The book is uniquely informed by empirically based and multidisciplinary social science modes of inquiry, together with a broad-ranging examination of the 'futures' based discourse, policy and politics that have become an intrinsic part of the contemporary world.It will appeal to researchers and postgraduate students in environmental anthropology, environmental studies, psychology and politics.

Climate change makes fossil fuels unburnable, yet global coal production has almost doubled over the last 20 years. This book explores how the world can stop mining coal - the most prolific source of greenhouse gas emissions. It documents efforts at halting coal production, focusing specifically on how campaigners are trying to stop coal mining in India, Germany, and Australia. Through in-depth comparative ethnography, it shows how local people are fighting to save their homes, livelihoods, and environments, creating new constituencies and alliances for the transition from fossil fuels. The book relates these struggles to conflicts between global climate policy and the national coal-industrial complex. With coal's meaning transformed from an important asset to a threat, and the coal industry declining, it charts reasons for continuing coal dependence, and how this can be overcome. It will provide a source of inspiration for energy transition for researchers in environment, sustainability, and politics, as well as policymakers.

Anthropos, in the sense of species as well as cultures and ethics, locates humans as part of much larger orders of existence - fundamental when thinking about climate change. This book offers a new way of thinking about the significance of locality and everyday life in relation to climate change. Many scholars now write about the ethics, policies and politics of climate change, focusing on global processes and effects. The book's innovative approach to cross-cultural comparison and a regionally based ethnographic study moves beyond the political assertions and expert understandings filtered by the mass media. Rather, it asks fundamental questions about the social impact and cultural meanings of global warming and its impact on diverse human worlds embedded in a changing biosphere. The regional focus of the book is the Asia Pacific - the engine room of global economic growth in the 21st century, the largest user of the planet's natural resources, and the fastest-growing source of greenhouse gas emissions.The book's core analysis - a case study of the Hunter Valley in Southeast Australia - highlights the details of a specific locale that is an integral part of the Asia Pacific economic nexus. The book traces connections and contests of communities, citizens and states in the region, shaped by circumstances such as rapid economic growth in East Asia, heavy dependence on fossil fuels, and high levels of exposure to climate change impacts in a region where six of the world's ten countries most at risk are located, notably in the low-lying Pacific Island countries. Through interdisciplinary methods of anthropology, psychology and cultural analysis, the book approaches the social and cultural dimensions of climate change holistically, linking the large time scales of human species and the planet with small places and global commodity chains, local activism and transnational politics, collective reason and cultural critique.

Dammed follows the roughly 1,450-mile main stem of the Colorado River, from birth in the Rocky Mountain National Park to its end at the border of Mexico, and the 16 dams and diversions along its course.  The work documents the river, dams, reservoirs, and people interacting with the river along this route. The intent of this environmental photography project is to bring attention to the increasingly arid conditions of the Colorado River basin, but also prompts discussion and learning about not only the Colorado River watershed, but of water supply in general.

Climate change and ecological instability have the potential to disrupt human societies and their futures. Cultural, social and ethical life in all societies is directed towards a future that can never be observed, and never be directly acted upon, and yet is always interacting with us. Thinking and acting towards the future involves efforts of imagination that are linked to our sense of being in the world and the ecological pressures we experience. The three key ideas of this book - ecologies, ontologies and mythologies - help us understand the ways people in many different societies attempt to predict and shape their futures. Each chapter places a different emphasis on the linked domains of environmental change, embodied experience, myth and fantasy, politics, technology and intellectual reflection, in relation to imagined futures. The diverse geographic scope of the chapters includes rural Nepal, the islands of the Pacific Ocean, Sweden, coastal Scotland, North America, and remote, rural and urban Australia. This book will appeal to researchers and students in anthropology, sociology, environmental studies, cultural studies, psychology and politics.

Anthropos, in the sense of species as well as cultures and ethics, locates humans as part of much larger orders of existence - fundamental when thinking about climate change. This book offers a new way of exploring the significance of locality and lives in the epoch of the Anthropocene, a time when humans confront the limits of our control over nature. Many scholars now write about the ethics, policies and politics of climate change, focussing on global processes and effects. The book's innovative approach to cross-cultural comparison and a regionally based study explores people's experiences of environmental change and the meaning of climate change for diverse human worlds in a changing biosphere. The main study site is the Hunter Valley in southeast Australia: an ecological region defined by the Hunter River catchment; a dwelling place for many generations of people; and a key location for transnational corporations focussed on the mining, burning and export of black coal. Abundant fossil fuel reserves tie Hunter people and places to the Asia Pacific - the engine room of global economic growth in the twenty-first century and the largest user of the planet's natural resources. The book analyses the nexus of place and perceptions, political economy and social organisation in situations where environmental changes are radically transforming collective worlds. Based on an anthropological approach informed by other ways of thinking about environment-people relationships, this book analyses the social and cultural dimensions of climate change holistically. Each chapter links the large scales of species and planet with small places, commodity chains, local actions, myths and values, as well as the mingled strands of dystopian imaginings and strivings for recuperative renewal in an era of transition.

A series of beautiful photography books of previously unpublished work by leading and emerging contemporary photographers. Each book in the series contains from 10 to 18 photographs and includes a statement by the photographer. This series belongs in the library of all lovers of fine photography books. The book features a series of photographs of the churches of Cappodocia.