Settler Colonialism and Weed Ecology
Timothy Neale, Deakin’s University § *All photographs are by the author Two propositions to start: there is a significant parallel (or companionship) between settlers and weeds; and, there is…
Tag: environment
How toxic flame retardant chemicals become-and stay-ubiquitous in our homes and bodies
A new report highlights the failure of Canadian federal regulations to keep harmful flame retardant chemicals out of homes and consumer products. In fact, it argues that current…
On Solidarity and Molecules (#MakeMuskratRight)
Deferring to molecules rather than social movements when it comes to contamination is a case of power relations.
Mining, Environments and the role of Anthropologists
By Lorenzo D’Angelo, University of Milano-Bicocca The continued economic and ecological crises of recent years have again shown how economists and international leaders have overestimated the ability …
Anthro in the News 10/17/16
Cholera threat in Haiti Haitians displaced by Hurricane Matthew, Source: Andres Martinez Casares/Reuters ABC News says relief efforts in Haiti are “ramping up” one week after Hurricane M…
New to TAL? Check out some of our favorite episodes!
Glad you’re here! Check out some of our favorite episodes in any order and get to know the anthropological life. And, if you’re long-time listeners we hope you’ll enjoy…
Location, location, location: why South Australia could take the world’s nuclear waste
South Australia’s Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission has recommended the state investigate an international storage site for intermediate and high-level (spent fuel) nuclear waste.
Superbugs evolve in waste water, and could end up in our food
While the conversation on antibiotic resistance has started, one part of the story has not been highlighted. The risks to human and ecosystem health are strongly connected to…
Sara Shostak’s “Exposed Science: Genes, the Environment, and the Politics of Population Health” by McKenze M. Sigler
Exposed Science: Genes, the Environment, and the Politics of Population Health by Sara Shostak University of California Press, 2013, 312 pages “Genetics loads the gun, but the…
Natural Disasters Are Less Natural Than You Think
Road infrastructure, hydroelectric development, and climate change all factored into the floods and landslides that struck the Indian Himalayas in 2013, killing at least 5,748 people. Paul Co…
Climate Swings Drove Early Humans Out of Africa (and Back Again)
The textbook narrative of human history tells us that between 70,000 and 60,000 years ago our earliest modern human ancestors traveled out of Africa on a journey that…
In Deforestation’s Wake, Wild Animals Turn Troublesome
Clear-cutting of forests in West Papua for large-scale oil palm cultivation is in some cases turning local wildlife into orphans, reshaping the relationship between local communities and the envi…
North Dakota Access Pipeline Protests Spark Historic Declaration
Native Americans from many different tribes have unified behind the Standing Rock Sioux tribe’s protest in North Dakota against the construction of the Dakota Access pipeline. The controversial…
Modern Waste and Industrial Ruins in the Anthropocene
Regarding Giant Mine, the Canadian government’s plan for containment involves freezing the arsenic underground in perpetuity. Beyond the technical challenges, the question of how to communicate risk a…
Top of the Heap: Matthew Kohrman by Hannah Gibson
[For this instalment of the Top of the Heap series, I spoke with medical anthropologist and Associate Professor Matthew Kohrman from Stanford University.] Summer has arrived in North…
Reviving food diversity through Indigenous knowledge
This NPR piece — How Native American Tribes Saved A Giant, Ancient Squash From Oblivion — offers an interesting example for thinking about the everyday impacts of colonization…
Decolonial Atlas
This blog — The Decolonial Atlas — is a really interesting tool for discussions of representation. As the authors explain, The Decolonial Atlas, started in 2014, is an…
Graffiti Bombing in U.S. National Parks
Graffiti in U.S. national parks has become increasingly common. Carving into rocks or writing and painting on them leaves images and impressions that are difficult to remove—forever changing…
What Can Vampire Bats Teach Us About Friendship?
How did human friendship evolve? Vampire bats offer a unique opportunity to study the phenomenon of friendship through observing their strong social bonds. Josh More/Flickr Gerald Carter …
Will GMOs Put an End to Hunger? Ask the Hungry
When it comes to food, few topics are as contentious and polarizing as genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. Hyperbole is rampant in this debate. GMOs are everything we…
Animal Trafficking Is Big Business on Instagram
Social media platforms can be used to perpetuate the trafficking of animals and animal products such as bear bile, which is commonly harvested from Asiatic black bears. Lee…
Environmentality
Governmentality and environmentality can articulate how and why waste becomes a medium through which to understand power and changing human-waste interactions
Lost or Found? A Stick Chart From the Marshall Islands
In a recent blog post, I focused on the Global Positioning System (GPS) and mused on how we ever got along without high-tech navigational aids. GPS units became…
Searching for the Origins of the First Americans
Since the 1920s, scientists have debated whether the first Americans arrived from Asia—or somewhere else—some 11,000 years ago, or millennia before. Artifacts such as this Clovis spear point…