Anthropology and Contemporary Human Problems

by Bodley, John H.

• ISBN13: 9780759121584
• ISBN10: 0759121583
• Edition: 6th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-04-12
• Publisher: AltaMira Press

Summary

We live in a time of global mega-problems of unsustainable growth and consumption, resource depletion, ecosystem degradation, global warming, escalating energy costs, poverty, and conflict. Cultural anthropologist John H. Bodley trenchantly critiques these most pressing issues and shows how anthropology makes it possible to find solutions. The focus on culture scale suggests that many solutions may be found by developing local communities supported by regional markets and ecosystems, rather than by making the continuous accumulation of financial capital the dominant cultural process throughout the world.Now in its sixth edition, this classic textbook continues to have tremendous relevance and is more timely than ever in light of the recent global economic crisis. It exposes readers to the problems of a world out of balance with misdirected growth by the elite. Bodley offers examples from prehistoric and modern tribal societies along side of ancient imperial and contemporary commercial societies. Students will find this to be the trusted source to build a world view. Anthropology and Contemporary Human Problems is ideal for adoption in anthropology and sociology courses on globalization, cultural ecology, social class and inequality, the environment, sustainability, and development.

Author Biography

John H. Bodley is Regents Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Washington State University. He is the author of Cultural Anthropology, 5th edition (AltaMira Press, 2011), and Victims of Progress, 5th edition (AltaMira Press, 2008).

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables	p. xi
Preface	p. xv
Acknowledgments	p. xix
Anthro pological Perspectives on Contemporary Human Problems	p. 1
Nature and Scope of the Problems	p. 3
World Scientists' Warning to Humanity, 1992	p. 6
UN Millennium Goals	p. 7
Crisis Awareness and Response	p. 9
Significance of Culture Scale	p. 11
Uniqueness of Tribal Societies and Cultures	p. 13
"Original Affluent Society"	p. 16
Elite-Directed Growth: The Human Problem	p. 17
Distribution of Wealth and Power	p. 18
The World's Elite-Directors: View from the Top	p. 21
Elite-Direction and the Global Media: Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation	p. 22
Too Big and Failing: Elite-Direction and the Global Financial Crisis	p. 26
Scale, Adaptation, and the Environmental Crisis	p. 35
Cultural Transmission and Maladaptation	p. 36
Scale and Cultural Evolution	p. 37
Cultural Evolution and Adaptation	p. 39
Nature and Scope of the Environmental Crisis	p. 42
Biodiversity and the Death of the Tropical Rain Forests	p. 43
Ecocide, Soviet Style	p. 47
Environmental Crisis and Cultural Change	p. 51
Beyond "The Limits to Growth"	p. 52
Environmental Commissions: Global 2000 and Our Common Future	p. 56
Roots of the Environmental Crisis	p. 58
Capitalism and Ideological Roots	p. 60
Unregulated Self-Interest and the Tragedy of the Commons	p. 62
Land Degradation in the Mediterranean Region	p. 64
Planetary Boundaries: Beyond the Earth's Limits in the Anthropocene	p. 66
Extinctions and Biodiversity: Human Nature or Culture Scale Crisis?	p. 70
Tribal and Small-Scale Domestic Economies	p. 75
Wealth in Tribal and Commercial Worlds	p. 78
Biological Potential and Cultural Demand in the Pacific Northwest	p. 81
Sociocultural Scale and the Environment	p. 82
Sociological Footprints	p. 85
Natural Resources and the Culture of Consumption	p. 103
Energy and Culture: Basic Considerations	p. 103
Elite-Directors of the Energy Sector: The Power and Influence of Big Oil	p. 111
Capitalism and the Culture of Consumption	p. 117
History of Capitalism	p. 119
European Origins of Capitalism	p. 119
Culture of Overconsumption	p. 122
Resource Consumption in America	p. 127
Taking Stock	p. 128
America's Forests as Resources	p. 130
Economics of Resource Depletion	p. 133
Sustainable Development and the Steady-State Economy	p. 134
Consumption Culture's Environmental Cost: Western Coal	p. 136
Elite Decision Makers and the Consumption Culture	p. 138
Malnutrition and the Evolution of Food Systems	p. 147
Malthusian Dilemma	p. 148
Evolution of Food Systems	p. 150
Foraging and Subsistence Security	p. 151
Shift to Farms and Gardens	p. 153
Domestic Mode of Food Production	p. 153
Technological Advances in Food Production	p. 155
Politically Directed Food Systems	p. 157
Commercialization of Grain: England, 1500-1700	p. 158
Famine in the Modern World	p. 160
Global Malnutrition	p. 161
Persistence of Food Insecurity	p. 162
Global Food Price Crisis of 2007-2008: Hunger and Land Grabs	p. 164
Food Overconsumption	p. 168
Political Economy of Hunger: Bangladesh	p. 169
Commercial Factory-Food Systems	p. 179
Factory-Food Production	p. 180
Factory Potatoes versus Swidden Sweet Potatoes	p. 184
Commercialization of the American Food System, 1850-1890	p. 185
Social Costs of the Food-Production System	p. 186
Energy Costs of the Distribution System	p. 190
Food Marketing	p. 192
Food Quality and Market Scale	p. 196
Factory-Processed Potato Chips versus Manioc Cakes	p. 196
Fishing, Global Trade, and "Ghost Acres"	p. 198
Limits of Food Production	p. 201
Food Chain Clusters: ABCD Four and the Great Turkey Recall	p. 203
Population Problem	p. 215
Maximum Global Population Estimates	p. 218
Great Waves of Population Growth	p. 220
Population Pressure, Carrying Capacity, and Optimum Population	p. 222
Population Control among Foragers	p. 224
Population Equilibrium in Aboriginal Australia	p. 227
Neolithic Population Explosion	p. 229
Population Control among Tribal Village Farmers	p. 231
Island Population Problems	p. 233
Case of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) "Collapse"	p. 235
State Intervention and Population-Control Mechanisms	p. 236
Policy Implications	p. 237
Poverty and Conflict	p. 243
Violence and Insecurity in America	p. 245
Social Order in the Tribal World	p. 247
Importance of Social Equality	p. 249
Conflict and Conflict Resolution	p. 251
Leadership	p. 252
Internal Order in Political Centralized Societies	p. 253
Cross-Cultural Perspectives on War	p. 255
Scale of War and Violence in the Imperial and Commercial Worlds	p. 258
Fiscal-Military State and Military-Industrial Complexes	p. 259
Deadly Arsenals: The Nuclear Weapons Threat	p. 261
Failing States and Social Disorder	p. 262
Roots of the Security Crisis: Culture, Overpopulation, or Inequality?	p. 264
Financialization Process and the Debt Crisis	p. 265
Export Sugar, Starvation, and Infant Morality in Brazil	p. 268
State Terrorism and Investment Risk in Guatemala	p. 271
Opulence and Deindustrialization in America	p. 274
Los Angeles's Informal Economy: The Costs of American Poverty and Homelessness	p. 278
The Future	p. 289
Dilemma of Scale	p. 290
Imagining the Global Future	p. 293
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report on Emissions Scenarios	p. 294
American Intelligence Community Futures	p. 296
Global Trends 2025: An American View of a Transformed World	p. 298
Shell Oil's Perspective on the Future	p. 300
Shell Oil's 2050 Scenario: Emissions-Trading Blueprints	p. 301
Zero Carbon Britain 2030	p. 304
Bolivia: A Plurinational Communitary State Solving Human Problems	p. 305
Sustainable Global Futures	p. 313
TERRA-2000 and Information Society	p. 313
UN Global Environment Outlook 3 Global Futures	p. 316
The Great Transition Initiative	p. 316
Transforming the Corporation	p. 318
Mondragón Cooperatives	p. 319
Bhutan's Middle Path	p. 320
Toward a Sustainable Planetary Society	p. 323
Scaling Down: The Small Nations Alternative	p. 323
The United States, Happy Planets, and Billionaires	p. 325
Transforming America	p. 329
Glossary	p. 341
Bibliography	p. 359
Index	p. 395
About the Author	p. 411
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