Sustaining Natures

Highlights new directions in the field and topics of interest to undergraduate students

Environmental anthropology is at its best when firmly grounded in respectful and systematic ethnographic research and writing that spotlights uncommon perspectives on widely recognized issues confronting the world. Intentionally crafted for undergraduate course use in anthropology, geography, and environmental studies, Sustaining Natures showcases the best contemporary writing on nature and sustainability. With concise introductions and sample discussion questions, the editors guide readers through some of the field’s most pressing themes and debates, including farming, alternative energy, extractive industries, environmental justice, multispecies relationships, and urban ecology. This timely reader foregrounds diverse voices, views, and experiences of nature, from US corporate boardrooms to urban waste disposal sites in China, and moves environmental anthropology in new theoretical, methodological, and applied terrains.

Sarah R. Osterhoudt is associate professor of anthropology at Indiana University and author of Vanilla Landscapes: Meaning, Memory, and the Cultivation of Place in Madagascar. K. Sivaramakrishnan is Dinakar Singh Professor of Anthropology, professor in the School of the Environment, and codirector of the program in agrarian studies at Yale University. His most recent books include Nature Conservation in the New Economy: People, Wildlife and the Law in India (edited with Ghazala Shahabuddin). Contributors: Vanessa Agard-Jones, Shaila Seshia Galvin, Radhika Govindrajan, Hi'ilei Julia Hobart, Cindy Isenhour, Myles Lennon, Dáilan J. Long, Dana E. Powell, John Charles Ryan, Sarah E. Vaughn, and Amy Zhang

PREFACE

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INTRODUCTION

Sarah R. Osterhoudt and K. Sivaramakrishnan

FARMING AND FOOD

1 . THE FARMING OF TRUST: ORGANIC CERTIFICATION AND THE LIMITS OF TRANSPARENCY IN UTTARAKHAND, INDIA

Shaila Seshia Galvin

2 . A "QUEER-LOOKING COMPOUND": RACE, ABJECTION, AND THE POLITICS OF HAWAIIAN POI

Hi'ilei Julia Hobart

URBAN ENVIRONMENTS

3 . HOW THE GRASS BECAME GREENER IN THE CITY: ON URBAN IMAGININGS AND PRACTICES OF SUSTAINABLE LIVING IN SWEDEN

Cindy Isenhour

4 . CIRCULARITY AND ENCLOSURES: METABOLIZING WASTE WITH THE BLACK SOLDIER FLY

Amy Zhang

ENERGY AND ENERGY ALTERNATIVES

5 . LANDSCAPES OF POWER: RENEWABLE ENERGY ACTIVISM IN DINÉ BIKÉYAH

Dana E. Powell and Dáilan J. Long

6 . DECOLONIZING ENERGY: BLACK LIVES MATTER AND TECHNOSCIENTIFIC EXPERTISE AMID SOLAR TRANSITIONS

Myles Lennon

NONHUMAN LIFE

7 . "THE GOAT THAT DIED FOR FAMILY": ANIMAL SACRIFICE AND INTERSPECIES KINSHIP IN INDIA'S CENTRAL HIMALAYAS

Radhika Govindrajan

8 . PASSIVE FLORA? RECONSIDERING NATURE'S AGENCY THROUGH HUMAN-PLANT STUDIES

John Charles Ryan

CLIMATE, LANDSCAPE, AND IDENTITY

9 . IMAGINING THE ORDINARY IN PARTICIPATORY CLIMATE ADAPTATION

Sarah E. Vaughn

10. WHAT THE SANDS REMEMBER

Vanessa Agard-Jones

LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS

INDEX