AP/ANTH 4240 3.00 Nature, Culture, Power: The Anthropology of Environment
On the first day of COP29 – the most recent UN climate conference – the world’s richest countries finally signed on to a ‘loss and damage’ fund to compensate those most vulnerable to the climate crisis who contribute least to it. It was a hard-fought victory with a sour note – the money pledged covers just 0.2% of what’s needed.
This represents just one of the ways that climate change inequitably impacts different peoples around the globe. Recognizing that the burden of the climate crisis is intersectional, this course examines how colonialism, race, class, gender, and disability intersect with the material effects of a warming climate. It interrogates power dynamics within the fight to save the planet, asking who holds the cards in climate politics. But, recognizing that solutions to the climate crisis are also intersectional, the course looks at different visions for environmental and political transformation coming out of diverse climate justice movements. Featuring a cross-section of ethnographic case studies, we ask how anthropologists, activists, and local communities might work together for a more just and sustainable world.
Winter 2024
Course Director: E. Feltes - erfeltes@yorku.ca