Anthropological Perspectives on the Impact of Global Warming on Human Societies: Processes of Adaptation and Mitigation:
Conveners: Hans Baer, University of Melbourne; Megan Jennaway, University of Queensland
Chair: Megan Jennaway
Panel description: While anthropologists have long examined the impact of environmental factors on human societies, only a few have discussed the impact of global warming upon human societies. The vast majority of climate scientists argue that global warming has been largely induced by various human activities, particularly the emission of greenhouse gases associated with the burning of fossils fuels, since the Industrial Revolution. As organisers of this session, we have invited our colleagues to submit papers that touch upon the impact of global warming on humanity in various local, national, regional, and international contexts. While various multi-national corporations with their commitment to economic expansion have contributed to greenhouse gas emissions, some corporations and politicians have come to advocate various forms of “green capitalism” that would include technological innovations, reliance on alternative forms of energy, and carbon trading schemes. Are such schemes sufficient to adapt to and mitigate global warming over the long run, or is humanity in need of a new global political economy that will reverse the treadmill of production and consumption that contribute not only to global warming but also social disparities, population growth, depletion of natural resources, and environmental degradation?
Abstracts
Hans A. Baer, Development Studies Program, School of Social and Environment Enquiry, and Centre of Health and Society, University of Melbourne - Toward a Critical Anthropology of Global Warming: Beyond Capitalism and Toward an Alternative World System
Kay Milton, Department of Social Anthropology, Queen’s University Belfast - Global Warming and Public Discourse: Predictions of Doom or a New Millennium?
Rosita Henry, Department of Anthropology, Archaeology & Sociology School of Arts and Social Sciences, James Cook University - Cosmologies of Climate Change
Lenore Manderson, School of Psychology, Psychiatry, and Psychological Medicine, Monash University - Anthropological Perspectives on Global Warming, Environmental Disaster and Disability
Megan Jennaway, School of Population Health, University of Queensland - Notions of Absolute Certainty: Diversionary Tactics in the Global Warming Debate
