Climate histories: communicating cultural knowledge of environmental change
Case for support
Fit to Arts and Humanities Approaches to Researching Environmental Change
Networks competition
This Network speaks to the theme of Histories of Environmental Change by asking how
people around the world perceive, narrate, and frame changes in their environment and
climate. How can such accounts be gathered methodologically, and what challenges does
their interpretation raise? The Network aims to make a major contribution to academic
debates on environmental change, by making a cross-cultural explanation of the ways in
which environmental knowledge practices, apprehensions of risk in terms of futureoriented strategies and decision-making processes are informed by understanding of past
process.
The Social Anthropology Department at Cambridge is uniquely placed to host the
network. It hosts both senior and early-career researchers who work on environmental
change around the world, and we will draw on our experiences of network research
garnered during projects such as the Macarthur Environmental and Cultural
Conservation in Inner Asia Project, which brought together specialists on Inner Asia to
undertake a major study of environmental and social interaction. The principal
investigator, Dr. David Sneath, has been working on environmental change and state
policy in Inner Asia since the early 1990s and the co-investigator, Dr. Barbara
Bodenhorn, has been involved in research, education and outreach crossing the mega
biodiverse regions of Mexico and minimalist regions of Arctic Alaska since 2006.
Aims and objectives
The Network will commence in May 2010 and run for a 12-month period. It will:
1) Host 2 methodology virtual forums, 2 workshops and a conference that will:
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Examine ways people perceive and process information about environmental
change
Document the communication strategies actors employ, particularly in contexts
where people may ‘talk across’ each other
Explore ways in which these forms of knowledge facilitate or impede action;
Engage productively with cognate disciplines (Archaeology, English, History,
Ecological Systems; Geography, Biology, Engineering) in terms of the
methodological challenges presented in the social study of climate change over
time
Produce a coherent, comparative evaluation of ways in which anthropology can
contribute to histories of climate change
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Contribute to a general understanding of the communications issues that are
brought to bear in cross-cultural/institutional contexts where climate change is the
subject of discussion
Enrich existing ethnographic work in our areas of expertise, by contributing this
historical dimension
Place this area specialist work in comparative context
2) Develop plans for an edited publication on communicating knowledge of
environmental change
3) Create a web forum for schools and the public to engage with geographically diverse
and historically informed research relating to climate change and strategies for dealing
with climate events
4) Formulate an application for a substantial research project on the topic of
environmental histories
Rationale and research context
This Network comes at a time when there is a wealth of natural scientific material and
ever-growing number of social science accounts on the facts of environmental change
within precise geo-political contexts (e.g. Berkhout et al 2001). The most recent
anthropological perspectives include the regional/ecosystem level (Krupnik & Jolly
2002); define climate change as a problem for national and international security (Barnett
2003); and attempt to integrate ecology and symbolic anthropology to examine human
perceptions and responses to meteorological phenomena (Strauss & Orlove 2003, Aveni
2002); examine the cultural space between weather and climate (change) as reframed to
remind actors of global responsibility (Sherratt et al 2005); interrogate the equity and
justice implications of climate change (Thomas & Twyman 2005, Adger et al 2005,
Watt-Cloutier 2004, Rohr 2006, Wisner et al 2007, Aguilar 2008); explore
representations of climate change in the media (Carvalho 2007, Lahsen 2008); the
politics of climate change (Giddens 2009); as well as the politics of how climate
knowledge is represented (Nadasdy 1999, Usher 2000); communication and social action
in climate change (Moser & Dilling 2007); and understanding what role anthropologists
have in relation to climate change (Milton, ed. 2008, Crate & Nuttall 2009).
Nonetheless, the study of environmental change remains impoverished by the lack of
substantial comparative anthropology, which provide observational accounts of
environmental change over the short, mid and long-term, and which also reflects the
perceptions and accounts of local actors (Fienup-Riordan 1999, Krupnik et al 2004;
Nazarea 2006). Cronon (1992) and Cruikshank (2001) argue for oral narrative as a
powerful research tool in uncovering environmental knowledge over time. Cruikshank
(1998) shows how fruitfully oral and written historical records may inform our
understanding of historical processes. Kearney (1994) argues strongly for the cognitive
importance of stories for apprehending environmental information. Indeed specific and
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rich studies of the American Northwest have emerged through the work of Orlove et al
(2008) and Cruikshank (2005) concerning the relationship between local and scientific
interpretations of glaciers undergoing rapid environmental change. Nevertheless, these
analyses are primarily being realised in isolation.
The development of multi-disciplinary collaboration is important if we are to evaluate the
impacts of climate change within the broader context of social and cultural change.
Anthropologists are particularly well placed to undertake research of this type, since they
are generally in an engaged relationship with the people they work with and need to be
aware of the multiple forms of communication – and miscommunication – that emerge
when different ways of perceiving the environment and its processes intersect (WatsonVerran 1994; Povinelli 1995; Wynne 1996; Nuttall & Nilsson 2008; Crate & Nuttall
2009; Bodenhorn in press). Our Network sets out prompt reflection on the connection
between the humanities and the development of a critique of climate change models,
scientific scenarios and storylines for the future (Nuttall 2001).
Our Network, whose members between them, work in most of the ecological ‘hotspots’
of the globe, is committed to the documentation of local understandings of environmental
processes and to examining the intersection of such understanding with local, national
and international bodies that have a stake in policy formation. It is for that reason that we
have coupled our focus on climate histories, with a simultaneous emphasis on
communication. It is our intention to contribute to discussions of evidence and of process
in a clear and precise way, to show how humanities-based approaches can complement
the natural sciences (Redclift & Benton 1994, Rayner & Malone 1998). The Network
appeals to audiences within the humanities and social sciences, practitioners of
local/natural history who generate their own climate histories and natural scientists
seeking to incorporate the humanities into their research.
Timetable of activities
We propose a series of open activities to simultaneously support active research and draw
on and expand relevant networks:
June 2010. Two, 2-hour methodology virtual forums with David Sneath, Barbara
Bodenhorn, Hildegard Diemberger, Mina Gorji, Michael Bravo, Cameron Petrie,
Monica Minnegal, Jason Davies and Gianluca Lentini on methodological issues
related to learning about the past
October 2010. Internal, work-in-progress workshop for the Cambridge core group to
discuss research to date; explore commonalities, identify methodological challenges,
and refine on-going research goals
January 2011. 2-day CRASSH-supported conference that unites researchers across
the Network
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Theme 1: Methodological challenges; genres and the communication of
intentional action
Theme 2: Questions of perception and interpretation (how do we know that
change is happening?), nodes of miscommunication
Public film screening, exhibition
Invited speakers: Tim Ingold, Simon Schaffer, Joe Smith, Steve Rayner, Kirsten
Hastrup, Julie Cruikshank
March 2011. Internal, work-in-progress workshop for the Cambridge core group to
consolidate and identify
 Subgroup of researchers to submit a panel to the 2010 ASA meeting, Lampeter in
September 2011
 Coherent set of papers to be prepared for publication
We also anticipate 2 steering committee meetings using video-conferencing technology
(June 2010; November 2010) and are seeking funding for a final, international conference
to be held during the course of the 2011/12 academic year.
Key speakers or participants
Cambridge participants:
Barbara Bodenhorn (Lecturer). 30 years’ fieldwork experience in the Arctic, a
site of rapid climate change.
Liana Chua (Junior Research Fellow). Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo.
Experiences of place, movement and memory in the context of resettlement
project; locates these experiences comparatively with environmental interests and
government policies
Sabine Deiringer (Junior Research Fellow). Collaborative research on climate
knowledge, environmental preservation and sustainability through oral history
project with Hawai’i Pacific University
Hildegard Diemberger (Senior Researcher, Director of Mongolia & Inner
Asia Studies Unit). Long-term research in Tibet and Nepal. Analysis of textual
resources to explore historical evidence of climate changes in Tibet.
Holly High (Research Associate). Resource conflicts, agrarian studies and
environmental change in mainland Southeast Asia, particularly Laos.
Richard Irvine (Postdoctoral Researcher). Oral history and folklore of the East
Anglian Fenlands, shaped by attempts to manage and control the environment and
affected by extreme weather events
Nick Long (Temporary Lecturer). Indonesia. Riau Islanders’ imagination,
narration and politicisation of changes in the undersea environment
David Sneath (Reader). On-going fieldwork interests in Mongolia on oral
history and climate change
5 PhD students (Tristam Barrett, Jacqueline Hobbs, Mireille Kaiser, Nayanika
Mathur, Maria-Luisa Nodari) working on related themes
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Confirmed external participants:
Cui Xuefeng (Global Change/Earth System Science, Beijing Normal University,
PRC) working on human-environmental interactions with a focus on land use
changes in China
Mina Gorji (English, University of Cambridge) working on 19th century modes
of documenting environmental observations
Monica Minnegal (Ecological Systems, University of Melbourne, Australia)
looking at Papua New Guinea and Australia re water, resources and social
systems
Jason Davies (Biology, Radford University, USA) focusing on the ecophysiology
of native/invasive songbird species and behavioural change on the Tibetan plateau
in Qinghai, PRC
Gianluca Lentini (Climatology, Ev-K2-CNR), communicator of environmental
science looking at climate variability at meteorological stations over the highest
peaks of the planet
Michael Bravo (Geography, University of Cambridge) looking at the history of
research stations, oral narratives of Arctic governance and the institutionalisation
of natural science
Cameron Petrie (Archaeology, University of Cambridge) researching climate
change and historical responses to it, particularly in the Indus Valley/NW India
Hans Graf (Atmospheric Sciences, University of Cambridge) working on climate
modelling and data analysis, with a focus in the Namtso Lake area of the Tibetan
Autonomous Region, PRC
Events will be marketed online - via the Network website and mailing lists - and via
pamphlets sent to anthropology, history and geography departments across the UK, as
well as to local/natural history groups. Our strong online presence (forums, blog, mailing
list) will avoid distance prohibiting anyone from getting involved.
Leadership, management and co-ordination
Principal Investigator: Dr David Sneath, Head of the Department of Social Anthropology
at the University of Cambridge. His research focuses on environmental anthropology in
inner and central Asia, China and Mongolia. He is also PI for the Oral History of
Twentieth Century Mongolia project. He has authored over 15 papers and books on this
subject and his work has been published in the journal Science.
Co- Investigator: Dr Barbara Bodenhorn, Newton Trust Lecturer in the Department of
Social Anthropology at the University of Cambridge. Her research focuses on indigenous
politics and knowledge practices, questions of environmental expertise with particular
reference to the climate change in the Arctic (north Alaska) and Mexico (Oaxaca;
Michoacan).
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Cambridge core group: 11 researchers will be participating and one of these, Jacqueline
Hobbs (PhD student), will provide website support.
Steering Committee:
Dr Michael Bravo (Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge)
Prof Roy Ellen (School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent)
Prof Hans Graf (Centre for Atmospheric Science, University of Cambridge)
Prof Caroline Humphrey (Dept of Social Anthropology, University of Cambridge)
Prof Tim Ingold (Dept of Anthropology, University of Aberdeen)
Prof Mark Nuttall (University of Alberta) - invited
Prof Simon Schaffer (Dept of History and Philosophy of Science, University of
Cambridge) - invited
Dissemination
We will create an online forum allowing schools and other interested parties to debate the
issues involved. Papers will be available for download, both in forms suitable for our
academic peers, and suitable for use in high-school teaching environment.
Members of the Network will be available to present our findings in schools, local oral
history societies, research seminars, and conferences.
Our academic dissemination will include: a panel for ASA (Association of Social
Anthropologists) meetings in Lampeter (theme: animal/human relations); preparation of
an edited volume/special issue of a journal, research papers which engage with
methodological challenges as well as the production of environmental knowledge. We
will also link up with interdisciplinary initiatives such as those organized by the
Cambridge Centre for Energy Studies (e.g. the Oaxaca Water Workshop in Mexico) and
SSS (Social Studies of Science) events.
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