e WILEY BLACKWELL ANTHOLOGIES IN SOCIAL AND CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY T g The Anthropology n h a “In this brilliantly devised compilation, Michael Dove takes the long view, showing shifting e perspectives on climate and culture from Hippocrates and Vedic medicine to catastrophic h of Climate Change global change. This is a refreshingly diverse contribution at an urgent time.” A C Paul Robbins, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin–Madison n e t “Fundamentally, climate change is an anthropological problem. In this wonderful book, h An Historical Reader t Michael Dove introduces readers to the rich diversity of anthropological perspectives on a climate and society.” r o m J. Stephen Lansing, University of Arizona Edited by Michael R. Dove p “An innovative and instructive collection of studies on social and climate change, this i o l book is a much needed addition to the ongoing work on how to think about climate C change. The critical clarity that the papers in this collection afford should help readers to l o think beyond the assertions of doom or the skeptical denials that characterize nearly all work on climate – instead, the book, especially its introduction by Dove, is an invitation g f to think differently: an unusual luxury that gladdens the spirit.” o y Arun Agrawal, University of Michigan y o g Climate perturbation and change is a topic of intense interest but the current f conversation rarely moves beyond an examination of the contemporary situation. In o doing so, it ignores insights from millennia of scholarly attention to the relationship C l between climate and society and does not take full advantage of anthropological work o l on the subject. This timely anthology brings together the most important classical works i p and contemporary scholarship for a complete historical anthropological evaluation of m the relationship between culture and climate change. o r The essays in this volume study the historic and prehistoric records of human impact a h from and response to prior periods of climatic perturbation and change; the impact and t e t response at the local level; the impact on global debates from North–South post-colonial n histories; and the social dimensions of climate science. They encompass such topics as C environmental determinism, climatic events as social catalysts, climatic disasters and A societal collapse, and the construction and circulation of knowledge about climate. h An ideal text for courses in climate change, human/cultural ecology, environmental e anthropology and archaeology, disaster studies, science and technology studies, history a h of science, and environmental sciences, this book not only informs current debates but n also demonstrates that the relationship between climate and society has preoccupied T g the human mind for as long as records have been kept. e Michael R. Dove is the Margaret K. Musser Professor of Social Ecology in the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Professor in the Department of Anthropology, Director of the Tropical Resources Institute, and Curator of Anthropology at the E Peabody Museum, Yale University, USA. d D i t oe vd e b y pb_9781118383001.indd 1 14/11/2013 06:15 The Anthropology of Climate Change Wiley Blackwell Anthologies in Social And Cultural Anthropology Series Editor: Parker Shipton, Boston University Drawing from some of the most significant scholarly work of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and some- times earlier, the Wiley Blackwell Anthologies in Social and Cultural Anthropology series offers a comprehensive and unique perspective on the ever-changing field of anthropology. It represents both a collection of classic readers and an exciting challenge to the norms that have shaped this discipline over the past century. Each edited volume is devoted to a traditional subdiscipline of the field such as the anthropology of religion, linguistic anthropology, or medical anthropology; and provides a foundation in the canonical readings of the selected area. Aware that such subdisciplinary definitions are still widely recognized and useful – but increasingly problematic – these volumes are crafted to include a rare and invaluable perspective on social and cultural anthropology at the onset of the twenty-first century. Each text provides a selection of classic readings together with contemporary works that underscore the artificiality of subdisciplinary definitions and point students, researchers, and general readers in the new directions in which anthropology is moving. Series Advisory Editorial Board: Fredrik Barth, University of Oslo and Boston University Stephen Gudeman, University of Minnesota Jane Guyer, Northwestern University Caroline Humphrey, University of Cambridge Tim Ingold, University of Aberdeen Emily Martin, Princeton University Sally Falk Moore, Harvard Emerita Marshall Sahlins, University of Chicago Emeritus Joan Vincent, Columbia University and Barnard College Emerita 1. Linguistic Anthropology: A Reader, 2nd Edition Edited by Alessandro Duranti 2. A Reader in the Anthropology of Religion, 2nd Edition Edited by Michael Lambek 3. The Anthropology of Politics: A Reader in Ethnography, Theory, and Critique Edited by Joan Vincent 4. Kinship and Family: An Anthropological Reader Edited by Robert Parkin and Linda Stone 5. Law and Anthropology: A Reader Edited by Sally Falk Moore 6. The Anthropology of Development and Globalization: From Classical Political Economy to Contemporary Neoliberalism Edited by Marc Edelman and Angelique Haugerud 7. The Anthropology of Art: A Reader Edited by Howard Morphy and Morgan Perkins 8. Feminist Anthropology: A Reader Edited by Ellen Lewin 9. Ethnographic Fieldwork: An Anthropological Reader, 2nd Edition Edited by Antonius C. G. M. Robben and Jeffrey A. Sluka 10. Environmental Anthropology Edited by Michael R. Dove and Carol Carpenter 11. Anthropology and Child Development: A Cross-Cultural Reader Edited by Robert A. LeVine and Rebecca S. New 12. Foundations of Anthropological Theory: From Classical Antiquity to Early Modern Europe Edited by Robert Launay 13. Psychological Anthropology: A Reader on Self in Culture Edited by Robert A. LeVine 14. A Reader in Medical Anthropology: Theoretical Trajectories, Emergent Realities Edited by Byron J. Good, Michael M. J. Fischer, Sarah S. Willen, and Mary-Jo DelVecchio Good 15. Sexualities in Anthropology Edited by Andrew Lyons and Harriet Lyons 16. The Anthropology of Performance: A Reader Edited by Frank J. Korom 17. The Anthropology of Citizenship: A Reader Edited by Sian Lazar 18. The Anthropology of Climate Change: An Historical Reader Edited by Michael R. Dove The Anthropology of Climate Change An Historical Reader Edited by Michael R. Dove This edition first published 2014 © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Inc Registered Office John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK Editorial Offices 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5020, USA 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford, OX4 2DQ, UK The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK For details of our global editorial offices, for customer services, and for information about how to apply for permission to reuse the copyright material in this book please see our website at www.wiley.com/wiley-blackwell. The right of Michael R. Dove to be identified as the author of the editorial material in this work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. All brand names and product names used in this book are trade names, service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. The publisher is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author(s) have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. It is sold on the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services and neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. If professional advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data applied for Hardback ISBN: 978-1-118-38355-1 Paperback ISBN: 978-1-118-38300-1 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Cover image: Central Javanese farmer assessing the prospects for essential rain from distant clouds. Photo by © Michael R. Dove. Cover design by Nicki Averill Design. Set in 9/11pt Sabon by SPi Publisher Services, Pondicherry, India 1 2014 Contents Acknowledgments to Sources viii About the Editor x Preface xi Acknowledgments xiv Introduction: The Anthropology of Climate Change Six Millennia of Study of the Relationship between Climate and Society 1 Michael R. Dove Part I Continuities 37 Climate Theory 1 Airs, Waters, Places 41 Hippocrates 2 On the Laws in Their Relation to the Nature of the Climate 47 Charles de Secondat Montesquieu Beyond the Greco-Roman Tradition 3 The Muqaddimah: An Introduction to History 55 Ibn Khaldûn 4 The Jungle and the Aroma of Meats: An Ecological Theme in Hindu Medicine 67 Francis Zimmermann Ethno-climatology 5 Concerning Weather Signs 83 Theophrastus vi contents 6 Gruff Boreas, Deadly Calms: A Medical Perspective on Winds and the Victorians 87 Vladimir Janković Part II Societal and Environmental Change 103 Environmental Determinism 7 Nature, Rise, and Spread of Civilization 107 Friedrich Ratzel 8 Environment and Culture in the Amazon Basin: An Appraisal of the Theory of Environmental Determinism 115 Betty J. Meggers Climate Change and Societal Collapse 9 Management for Extinction in Norse Greenland 131 Thomas H. McGovern 10 What Drives Societal Collapse? 151 Harvey Weiss and Raymond Bradley Climatic Events as Social Crucibles 11 Natural Disaster and Political Crisis in a Polynesian Society: An Exploration of Operational Research 157 James Spillius 12 Drought as a “Revelatory Crisis”: An Exploration of Shifting Entitlements and Hierarchies in the Kalahari, Botswana 168 Jacqueline S. Solway Part III Vulnerability and Control 187 Culture and Control of Climate 13 Rain-Shrines of the Plateau Tonga of Northern Rhodesia 191 Elizabeth Colson 14 El Niño, Early Peruvian Civilization, and Human Agency: Some Thoughts from the Lurin Valley 201 Richard L. Burger Climatic Disasters and Social Marginalization 15 Katrina: The Disaster and its Doubles 217 Nancy Scheper-Hughes 16 “Nature”, “Culture” and Disasters: Floods and Gender in Bangladesh 223 Rosalind Shaw contents vii Part IV Knowledge and its Circulation 235 Emic Views of Climatic Perturbation/Disaster 17 Typhoons on Yap 239 David M. Schneider 18 The Politics of Place: Inhabiting and Defending Glacier Hazard Zones in Peru’s Cordillera Blanca 247 Mark Carey Co-production of Knowledge in Climatic and Social Histories 19 Melting Glaciers and Emerging Histories in the Saint Elias Mountains 261 Julie Cruikshank 20 The Making and Unmaking of Rains and Reigns 276 Todd Sanders “Friction” in the Global Circulation of Climate Knowledge 21 Transnational Locals: Brazilian Experiences of the Climate Regime 301 Myanna Lahsen 22 Channeling Globality: The 1997–98 El Niño Climate Event in Peru 315 Kenneth Broad and Ben Orlove Index 335 Acknowledgments to Sources 1 Broad, Kenneth and Ben Orlove. 2007. Channeling Globality: The 1997–98 El Niño Climate Event in Peru. American Ethnologist 34(2): 285–302. 2 Burger, Richard L. 2003. El Niño, Early Peruvian Civilization, and Human Agency: Some Thoughts from the Lurin Valley. In El Niño in Peru: Biology and Culture Over 10,000 Years. J. Haas and M. O. Dillon, eds. Fieldiana Botany 43: 90–107. 3 Carey, Mark. 2008. The Politics of Place: Inhabiting and Defending Glacier Hazard Zones in Peru’s Cordillera Blanca. In Darkening Peaks: Glacier Retreat, Science, and Society. B. Orlove, E. Wiegandt, and B.H. Luckman, eds. pp. 229–240. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. 4 Colson, Elizabeth. 1957. Rain-Shrines of the Plateau Tonga of Northern Rhodesia. In The Plateau Tonga of Northern Rhodesia (Zambia): Social and Religious Studies. pp. 84–101. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, for the Institute for Social Research, University of Zambia. 5 Cruikshank, Julie. 2007. Melting Glaciers and Emerging Histories in the Saint Elias Mountains. In Indigenous Experience Today. Marisol de la Cadena and Orin Starn, eds. pp. 355–378. Oxford: Berg. 6 Hippocrates. 1923. Airs, Waters, Places. W. H. S. Jones, trans. In Hippocrates, Volume I, pp. 71–73, 105–137. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. 7 Ibn Khaldûn. 1958. The Muqaddimah: An Introduction to History. Franz Rosenthal, trans. Frontispiece and pp. 103–109 and 167–183. New York: Bollingen Foundation. 8 Janković, Vladimir. 2007. Gruff Boreas, Deadly Calms: A Medical Perspective on Winds and the Victorians. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (N.S.): S147–S164. 9 Lahsen, Myanna. 2004. Transnational Locals: Brazilian Experiences of the Climate Regime. In Earthly Politics: Local and Global in Environmental Governance. Sheila Jasanoff and Marybeth L. Martello, eds. pp. 151–172. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. 10 McGovern, Thomas H. 1994. Management for Extinction in Norse Greenland. In Historical Ecology: Cultural Knowledge and Changing Landscapes. Carole L. Crumley, ed. pp. 127–154. Santa Fe, NM: School of American Research Press. 11 Meggers, Betty J. 1957. Environment and Culture in the Amazon Basin: An Appraisal of the Theory of Environmental Determinism. In Studies in Human Ecology. pp. 71–89. Washington, DC: The Anthropological Society of Washington and the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States.