"If you're an anthropologist, well, let's talk about the wind":

the role of biological anthropology in the Anthropocene and climate change

  • Guillermo German Joosten Anthropology Scientific Department, Natural History Museum of La Plata, National University of La Plata
  • Claudia Rita Valeggia Yale University, Connecticut
  • Marina Laura Sardi División Antropología, Museo de La Plata, Universidad Nacional de La Plata
DOI: https://doi.org/10.34096/runa.v43i2.10730
Keywords: Gran Chaco, Toba / Qom people, Pilcomayo river, Bañado La Estrella, niche construction theory

Abstract

Climate change and the Anthropocene pose numerous challenges for all sectors of humanity. From anthropology, one of them is how to use the deep situated knowledge on human-environment relations for adaptation to accelerated environmental change, especially in frontier communities that are both the traditional object of study of the discipline and the main affected groups by environmental deterioration. Niche construction theory is then discussed as a holistic way of integrating this knowledge and the example of the Gran Chaco is described. To this end, both past practices of landscape domestication and the main current modifications are considered, and a recent socio-environmental problem is analyzed: the flooding of the Toba community of Sombrero Negro in 2018. Finally, we describe climate projections for the area and make a call for a biological anthropology that is useful for living in the Anthropocene.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Claudia Rita Valeggia, Yale University, Connecticut
es profesora de antropología de la Universidad de Yale en E.E.U.U. Formada como bióloga, se especializa en la ecología reproductiva humana y en antropología biosocial. Lleva más de 20 años de trabajo de campo con comunidades del Gran Chaco.
Marina Laura Sardi, División Antropología, Museo de La Plata, Universidad Nacional de La Plata
Es egresada de la Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata como Licenciada en Antropología y Doctora en Ciencias Naturales. Se especializa en antropología biológica.
Published
2022-05-19
How to Cite
Joosten, G. G., Valeggia, C. R., & Sardi, M. L. (2022). "If you’re an anthropologist, well, let’s talk about the wind": . RUNA, Archivo Para Las Ciencias Del Hombre, 43(2), 265-288. https://doi.org/10.34096/runa.v43i2.10730
Issue
Vol 43 No 2 (2022): Dossier: Biological Anthropology
Section
Dossier - Artículos Originales

Creative Commons License
Runa, archivos para las ciencias is a publication of the Instituto de Ciencias Antropológicas, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad de Buenos Aires and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Runa maintains its commitment to the policies of Open Access to scientific information, considering that both scientific publications and publicly funded research should circulate on the Internet freely, free of charge and without restrictions.

The contents and opinions expressed in published articles are the sole responsibility of their authors.