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April 2011 |I N F O C U S

S U S T A I N A B I L I T YC O M M E N T A R Y

The word sustainability increasingly appears in public discourse, but what does it mean for anthropology? This monthsseries explores some of the ways anthropologists engage with this omnipresent topic. Contributors explore sustainability asa framework for research as well as a field of study in itself. Several authors discuss program and curriculum development,

expanding the reach of anthropology to students and the public. This series also includes examples of research intertwined withsustainability in a range of settings and time, from ancient central Mexico to a present-day university campus in Idaho.

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Missing Anthropology

The new field of sustainability science has emerged outof the recognition of the dangers of global warming toreconcile the historically conflicted development goalsof political economies and planetary limitations. This

emergent discipline is character izedby an applied focus on identifyingpractical solutions to the challengesof human sustainability. In thewords of the World Commissionon Environment and Development,the objective is an approach thatmeets the needs of the present

without compromising the abilityof future generations to meet their own needs. Despitethis transdisciplinary agenda and the central sociocul-tural dimensions of the problem, to date the primaryinputs to sustainability science have come from climatescience, environmental science, conservation biologyand economics. While anthropological assessmentsof societal and environmental interaction are consider-able, anthropology has not defined itself or been viewedby others as a sustainability science. Thus, Richard Wil k(in Crate and Nuttalls 2009Anthropology and ClimateChange) wrote that anthropologists have not had a

notable presence in any of the discussions about howpublic policy can respond to the challenge of makingconsumer culture more sustainable. Similarly, in aneditorial entitled Anthropology Is Missing (MedicalAnthropology2010), James Trostle points out that theWorld Bank, a major force shaping global health policy(for better or worse), takes little note of anthropologicalwork on climate change and its effects on communitiesworldwide. Affi rming this pattern, Terrence McCabeobserves (Human Organization 2003) that none ofthe authors of the definitional Science publication onsustainability science were anthropologists.

The consequence is not merely that anthropologysuffers the neglect of not being at the table in acritical discussion of public issues but, as PriscillaStone noted in the 2003 Human Organization collec-tion, lacking the holistic, cross-cultural and emic-informed approach of anthropology, sustainabilityscience has generated simplistic notions of people andlandscapes. Given the gravity of the issues involved, anapproach that combines complex models from climatescience with nave understandings of human societiesis clearly not productive for responding to one of the

gravest human challenges of the 21st century. Thepurpose of this essay is to describe one approach forenhancing anthropologys role in the development ofsustainability science.

Building a Transdisciplinary Climate ChangeInitiativeThis approach involves a new anthropologicallyinformed effort to build a community program that

addresses the health and other consequences of globalwarming. Although climate change affects everyone,it disproportionately threatens low-income communi-ties that have less access to climate knowledge, greaterpre-existing health problems, and fewer resourcesto protect against extreme weather events and otheradverse consequences of climate change. This initia-tive, the Northeast Climate Change Action Researchand Education (NCARE), has focused much of itsattention on developing collaborative research andsustainability projects that address current and futureclimate change impacts in Connecticuts capital city,

Hartford. With 30% of its population living below thepoverty line, Hartfords multi-ethnic neighborhoodsendure one of the highest rates of poverty amongUS urban dwellers. As the worst impacts of climatechange lie in the future, it is notable that over 40% ofcity residents under age 18 live in poor households.Additionally, almost one in four residents over age65an age group highly at risk from global warmingalso live in poverty.

NCARE emerged in 2010 among concernedfaculty from diverse departments at the Universityof Connecticut affiliated with the Center for

Environmental Science and Engineering. As a medicalanthropologist with growing involvement in climatechange and health issues, I was excited to meet like-minded colleagues from chemistry, ecology, evolu-tionary biology, mari ne science, economics, educationand statistics, as well as to discover their openness toanthropological perspectives about the special risksof global warming for populations already sufferingthe multiple burdens of structura l violence. From thestart, NCARE sought to grow beyond the academyto involve community-based organizations, local andstate government representatives, and communityactivists to support the development of an interactiveand evolving knowledge network for understandingclimate change and responding to its diverse risksand challenges.

Toward Sustainability: An NCARE InitiativeDuring its f irst year, NCARE developed several federalgrants. The first, submitted to the NSF, addressedprevailing inequalities of access to basic climate-relevant knowledge and climate-involved scientistsin disadvantaged urban neighborhoods. To date,

most efforts to strengthen scientific learning capacitytargeted schools. This approach often fails to fullyconsider the social, economic and other structuralfactors that hinder access to formal learning envi-

ronments. As summarized by the National ResearchCouncil (How People Learn 2000), the challengesfaced by disadvantaged groups in science learningare multiple: (1) the science curriculum of schools

in low-income communities lags behind that ofschools in wealthier neighborhoods; (2) students frompoorer communities perform lower on standardizedmeasures of scientific achievement; and (3) deficits inconventional language skills in poorer communitiescomplicate science learning. Moreover, school-basedteaching is generally modeled on the learning prac-tices of middle-class white families and ignores thelearning patterns of families from poorer or ethnicminority communities. Informal learning setti ngs (eg,community health fairs, neighbor libraries, commu-nity service organizations), however, provide acces-

sible sites for engaging people from non-dominantgroups in participatory science learning.

Social inequities and perceived social distance(eg, between residents of inner cities and universityfaculties) typically foster distrust, which looms asa barrier to informal science education initiatives.Overcoming this obstacle and the multiple burdensand limited resources of marginalized communitiesis critical to improving capacity for sustainable devel-opment. The foundation of our approach to theseissues involves using an anthropologically informed

participatory action model that emphasizes jointproblem definition, authentic community involve-

Anthropology as a Sustainability Science

SeeSustainabilityScience on page 10

I N F O C U S

Although climate change affects

everyone, it disproportionately

threatens low-income

communities that have less

access to climate knowledge,greater pre-existing health

problems, and fewer resources

to protect against extreme

weather events and other

adverse consequences of climate

change.

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| April 2011 I N F O C U S

ment in decision-making, and an equitable sharingof resources. This proposal developed through aninitial collaboration with a local community-basedservice and educational organization. This orga-nization, Family Life Education, which providesservices to low-income fami lies, gang-involved teens,adolescent and other young mothers, and drug-involved women, has a growing commitment toaddressing climate-related changes that threaten thecommunity. Community involvement will be furtherenhanced in the project through the development ofan oversight council composed of representatives of

other community organizations.Research shows that to make sustainability initia-tives relevant for our target audience, we must adaptthe culture and language of science to communitycultures and languages of diverse groups. Additionally,we must transfer useful capacities to the community(eg, climate literacy and enhanced analytic ability forassessing and responding to risk and u ncertainty). Asa result, climate change will not be presented as onemore burden but rather as a significant encounterthat can be addressed with practical, science-basedskills and perspectives. This approach has proven

effective in overcoming community hesitancy toengage in collaboration with university personnel(Schensul, in Community Building in the Twenty-First Century, 2005). The project is further guided byrecognition that climate change exacerbates existingsocial inequalities and that the formation of collab-orative initiatives linking science-rich institutions,such as universities, with local programs is an effec-tive strategy for inclusive, equitable climate-relatedlearning in informal settings.

Our project is designed to use knowledge gainedthrough working with community-based organiza-

tions to jointly produce interactive learning moduleson climate change, impacts and adaptation. Thesemodules (eg, interactive, highly graphic presentationsby a trained educator from the community) will beimplemented in nontraditional community learningenvironments to assess their feasibility, acceptabilityand effects on recipients knowledge, attitudes andbehaviors related to climate change and adaptation.The modules will be refined and made accessibleto the community as general learning resources.Modules will also be supported by a locally orientedweb-based community educational resource in auser-friendly format. Establishment of a community-based coalition, training of community organizationpersonnel, and ongoing collaboration with universityscientists will contribute to the continued impact ofthe project. Such an approach suggests one pathwayfor building anthropological involvement in sustain-ability initiatives and our disciplines capacity as asustainability science.

Merrill Singeris professor of anthropology and communitymedicine at the University of Connecticut. He has received

the George Foster Memorial Award in Practicing MedicalAnthropology, the Prize for Distinguished Achievement inthe Critical Study of North America, and the AAA SolonT Kimball Award for Public and Applied Anthropology.

Sustainability Science

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also jump scales between local and global systems.Through such efforts, we seek to better under-

stand the impacts of and responses to differentfishery management tools. For instance, catch shareshave wide-ranging and sometimes disparate conse-quences pointing to the important role of contextand the social relations through which such privati-zation is constituted. While the negative impacts ofprivatization are well documented, these tools havealso potentially opened up a creative space for groupstrying to organize around goals like preservingfishing permits within a community (Olson in Ocean

& Coastal Management, forthcoming). Other workhas sought to understand these particular dynamicsof group formation in more detail, looking at howdifferent social networks and factors such as trustmay facilitate building institutions for collaborativemanagement (see Pinto da Silva and Kitts inMarinePolicy

2006; Kitts, Pinto da Silva and Rountree inMarine Policy

2007). New research will extend theseinterests to look at newly developing sectors in theNortheast Groundfish fishery (similar to coopera-tives), looking at differences among groups and thedifferent experiences with and ideas about such

topics as governance, networks and fishing practices.

Conclusion

Multiple research projects are underway and underdevelopment at the Social Sciences Branch of theNMFS Northeast Fisheries Science Center. Theseprojects use varied methods, including oral histories,ethnographic studies and surveys, with the applicationof multiple methods providing convergent validationof results. New and sometimes unexpected themeshave emerged while conducting oral histories, whosecontext and distribution can be examined further

through regional surveys. While we have createdquantitative social and economic indicators for fisheryperformance that complement the recently developedmodel of fisheries SIA, these efforts are coupled withfieldwork to flesh out our contextual understandingof the meaning and importance of fisheries to localparticipants. Through the deliberate creation of theo-retical and analytic connections between these tools,the SSB is trying both to nail down a practical under-standing of sustainability, and explore new manage-ment tools for sustainable fisheries.

Patricia M Clay is a sociocultural anthropologist withNMFS Northeast Fisheries Science Center in WoodsHole, MA. Her PhD is in anthropology from IndianaUniversity. She combines policy planning with research,currently exploring well-being, triangulation of methods,

fishery performance indicators, and definitions of fishingcommunity in social science and law.

Julia Olson is a cultural anthropologist at NMFSNorthe ast Fisheri es Science Center in Woods Hole,MA. She holds a PhD in anthropolog y and MA in

economics from Stanford. Her current research focuseson cultural and spatial practices of fishing in theNortheast, including critic al GIS , political ecolog y, an dalternative management.

Chinampas

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spatial or temporal units capacity to convey information.Phenomena come into existence or disappear dependingon the scale we employ to study them. At a macro-temporal and spatial scale, as in some social evolutionarymodels, Xaltocans agricultural history is an insignifi-cantly minor phenomenon in the progression towardgreater population size and complexity, culminating in

the Aztec Empire. At micro-level scales, however, thebiography of Xaltocans farmscape occupies an other-wise concealed centrality.

There is little doubt that many indigenous systemsof environmental interaction are less destructive thanthose connected to capitalism. Appealing to traditionto explain sustainability, however, is like arguing for asingular meaning at the heart of a symbol that has existedfor thousands of years, in thousands of places. Whetheror not practices are deemed traditional is irrelevant if thehistorical reality ca nnot sustain them. Failures, includinga past kingdoms farmscape or a modern eco-experi-ment, usually are not directly environmental. They areorganizational. They stem from an uneasy juxtapositionbetween the social, political and economic spaces thatpeople and environments co-occupy. If anthropologistsfocus only on end products, such as success or failure, oron empty signifiers, such as tradition, we cannot accessthe processes of interactions that were sustained regard-less if they were sustainable.

Christopher T Morehart received his PhD inanthropology from Northwestern University. He studies

historical and political ecology. He has worked in Belize,Guatemala and Mexico. His current research is on long-term landscape transformation and political economicchange in central Mexico. .

ened, stability is undermined and neoliberal metrics ofsustainability do nothing to ease fears. History, memoryand experience shape present day perspectives, but theuncertainty associated with a pervasive sense of riskdestabilizes the game. The result is a complex set ofdiffuse responsibilitiesthere are, a fter al l, many playersin this game, including individuals, families, commu-nities and government agenciesand the uncertaintyextends to who will ultimately be held responsible. Weare left to consider the ways these logics and systems ofneoliberal governance affect the lives and livelihoods ofthose who fall under its watchful eyethat is to say, all of

usas well as the ways they intersect and map onto thedetailed contexts of our ethnographic research projects.

Ben McMahan and David Seibert are PhD studentsat the University of Arizona. Their dissertations bothinclude analyses of environment, place, social memoryand landscape; how identity and experience are shapedby the risks associated with these environments; howpeople inhabit or move through these landscapes; andhow governing agencies prepare, react and mitigate whenenvironment, people, risk and governance collides.

Dearth and Deluge

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