Preface
Cultural ecology is one of the two major subdivisions of human ecology, the
other being h... more Preface Cultural ecology is one of the two major subdivisions of human ecology, the other being human biological ecology.We felt that the books available for a class in cultural ecology focused either too heavily on general ecology, or too much on human biological ecology, or not enough on cultural ecology. Thus, we faced a “Goldilocks” dilemma: none of the usual text books were “just right” for our introductory classes. So we decided to create a new book. We begin with the assumption that the student has no prior knowledge of anthropology or ecology and try to build an understanding from the ground up. All peoples and cultures are faced with a number of major environmental issues, problems that can be addressed by anthropology and cultural ecology.How have other people faced and dealt with the same basic problems that face us all today? How can we improve our situation? What can anthropology and cultural ecology contribute to the future? The key is understanding what the options are, what works, and what does not. This requires a great deal of knowledge that must be obtained through the study of other groups, including the documentation of their environments and adaptations. Next, we must analyze what we have learned to develop alternative responses to environmental situations. We must also understand the consequences of the choices that have been made; we can learn from the successes and mistakes of others rather than having to repeat those same mistakes. We do not attempt to cover all aspects of the incredibly complex and diverse field of the relationships between humans and the environment. We thought it important to provide a reasonably comprehensive introduction to ecological theory in a simple format, combined with discussions of various human cultures. We spend more time defining the concepts and classifying things typologically
The water consumed in the production process of an agricultural or industrial product has been
ca... more The water consumed in the production process of an agricultural or industrial product has been called the 'virtual water' contained in the product (Allan, 1998). If one country exports a waterintensive product to another country, it exports water in virtual form. In this way some countries support other countries in their water needs. For water-scarce countries it could be attractive to achieve water security by importing water-intensive products instead of producing all waterdemanding products domestically (WWC, 1998). Reversibly, water-rich countries could profit from their abundance of water resources by producing water-intensive products for export. Trade of real water between water-rich and water-poor regions is generally impossible due to the large distances and associated costs, but trade in water-intensive products (virtual water trade) is realistic (Hoekstra and Hung, 2002). Virtual water trade between nations and even continents could thus ideally be used as an instrument to improve global water use efficiency, to achieve water security in water-poor regions of the world and to alleviate the constraints on environment by using best suited production sites (Turton, 2000).
Preface
Cultural ecology is one of the two major subdivisions of human ecology, the
other being h... more Preface Cultural ecology is one of the two major subdivisions of human ecology, the other being human biological ecology.We felt that the books available for a class in cultural ecology focused either too heavily on general ecology, or too much on human biological ecology, or not enough on cultural ecology. Thus, we faced a “Goldilocks” dilemma: none of the usual text books were “just right” for our introductory classes. So we decided to create a new book. We begin with the assumption that the student has no prior knowledge of anthropology or ecology and try to build an understanding from the ground up. All peoples and cultures are faced with a number of major environmental issues, problems that can be addressed by anthropology and cultural ecology.How have other people faced and dealt with the same basic problems that face us all today? How can we improve our situation? What can anthropology and cultural ecology contribute to the future? The key is understanding what the options are, what works, and what does not. This requires a great deal of knowledge that must be obtained through the study of other groups, including the documentation of their environments and adaptations. Next, we must analyze what we have learned to develop alternative responses to environmental situations. We must also understand the consequences of the choices that have been made; we can learn from the successes and mistakes of others rather than having to repeat those same mistakes. We do not attempt to cover all aspects of the incredibly complex and diverse field of the relationships between humans and the environment. We thought it important to provide a reasonably comprehensive introduction to ecological theory in a simple format, combined with discussions of various human cultures. We spend more time defining the concepts and classifying things typologically
The water consumed in the production process of an agricultural or industrial product has been
ca... more The water consumed in the production process of an agricultural or industrial product has been called the 'virtual water' contained in the product (Allan, 1998). If one country exports a waterintensive product to another country, it exports water in virtual form. In this way some countries support other countries in their water needs. For water-scarce countries it could be attractive to achieve water security by importing water-intensive products instead of producing all waterdemanding products domestically (WWC, 1998). Reversibly, water-rich countries could profit from their abundance of water resources by producing water-intensive products for export. Trade of real water between water-rich and water-poor regions is generally impossible due to the large distances and associated costs, but trade in water-intensive products (virtual water trade) is realistic (Hoekstra and Hung, 2002). Virtual water trade between nations and even continents could thus ideally be used as an instrument to improve global water use efficiency, to achieve water security in water-poor regions of the world and to alleviate the constraints on environment by using best suited production sites (Turton, 2000).
Uploads
Cultural ecology is one of the two major subdivisions of human ecology, the
other being human biological ecology.We felt that the books available for a class
in cultural ecology focused either too heavily on general ecology, or too much on
human biological ecology, or not enough on cultural ecology. Thus, we faced a
“Goldilocks” dilemma: none of the usual text books were “just right” for our introductory
classes. So we decided to create a new book. We begin with the assumption
that the student has no prior knowledge of anthropology or ecology
and try to build an understanding from the ground up.
All peoples and cultures are faced with a number of major environmental issues,
problems that can be addressed by anthropology and cultural ecology.How
have other people faced and dealt with the same basic problems that face us all
today? How can we improve our situation? What can anthropology and cultural
ecology contribute to the future?
The key is understanding what the options are, what works, and what does
not. This requires a great deal of knowledge that must be obtained through the
study of other groups, including the documentation of their environments and
adaptations. Next, we must analyze what we have learned to develop alternative
responses to environmental situations. We must also understand the consequences
of the choices that have been made; we can learn from the successes and
mistakes of others rather than having to repeat those same mistakes.
We do not attempt to cover all aspects of the incredibly complex and diverse
field of the relationships between humans and the environment. We thought it
important to provide a reasonably comprehensive introduction to ecological theory
in a simple format, combined with discussions of various human cultures.
We spend more time defining the concepts and classifying things typologically
called the 'virtual water' contained in the product (Allan, 1998). If one country exports a waterintensive
product to another country, it exports water in virtual form. In this way some countries
support other countries in their water needs. For water-scarce countries it could be attractive to
achieve water security by importing water-intensive products instead of producing all waterdemanding
products domestically (WWC, 1998). Reversibly, water-rich countries could profit from
their abundance of water resources by producing water-intensive products for export. Trade of real
water between water-rich and water-poor regions is generally impossible due to the large distances
and associated costs, but trade in water-intensive products (virtual water trade) is realistic
(Hoekstra and Hung, 2002). Virtual water trade between nations and even continents could thus
ideally be used as an instrument to improve global water use efficiency, to achieve water security in
water-poor regions of the world and to alleviate the constraints on environment by using best suited
production sites (Turton, 2000).
Cultural ecology is one of the two major subdivisions of human ecology, the
other being human biological ecology.We felt that the books available for a class
in cultural ecology focused either too heavily on general ecology, or too much on
human biological ecology, or not enough on cultural ecology. Thus, we faced a
“Goldilocks” dilemma: none of the usual text books were “just right” for our introductory
classes. So we decided to create a new book. We begin with the assumption
that the student has no prior knowledge of anthropology or ecology
and try to build an understanding from the ground up.
All peoples and cultures are faced with a number of major environmental issues,
problems that can be addressed by anthropology and cultural ecology.How
have other people faced and dealt with the same basic problems that face us all
today? How can we improve our situation? What can anthropology and cultural
ecology contribute to the future?
The key is understanding what the options are, what works, and what does
not. This requires a great deal of knowledge that must be obtained through the
study of other groups, including the documentation of their environments and
adaptations. Next, we must analyze what we have learned to develop alternative
responses to environmental situations. We must also understand the consequences
of the choices that have been made; we can learn from the successes and
mistakes of others rather than having to repeat those same mistakes.
We do not attempt to cover all aspects of the incredibly complex and diverse
field of the relationships between humans and the environment. We thought it
important to provide a reasonably comprehensive introduction to ecological theory
in a simple format, combined with discussions of various human cultures.
We spend more time defining the concepts and classifying things typologically
called the 'virtual water' contained in the product (Allan, 1998). If one country exports a waterintensive
product to another country, it exports water in virtual form. In this way some countries
support other countries in their water needs. For water-scarce countries it could be attractive to
achieve water security by importing water-intensive products instead of producing all waterdemanding
products domestically (WWC, 1998). Reversibly, water-rich countries could profit from
their abundance of water resources by producing water-intensive products for export. Trade of real
water between water-rich and water-poor regions is generally impossible due to the large distances
and associated costs, but trade in water-intensive products (virtual water trade) is realistic
(Hoekstra and Hung, 2002). Virtual water trade between nations and even continents could thus
ideally be used as an instrument to improve global water use efficiency, to achieve water security in
water-poor regions of the world and to alleviate the constraints on environment by using best suited
production sites (Turton, 2000).