Anthropology of Climate Change

Contemporary climate change is a profoundly human issue. This course disaggregates “the human” in climate change, employing an anthropological perspective to ask how people experience changing climates in different ways throughout the world. From receding glaciers to rising seas to unpredictable seasons and periods of drought, the ways people understand, respond to, and experience climate change are shaped by diverse cultures and histories. Topics include environmental change, capitalism, energy, climate justice in indigenous communities, green economies, tropical forests, denial and skepticism, and the visibility of climate change. Articles and ethnographies cover the Global North as well as the Global South.