What do you think?
Rate this book
By Mark Q. Sutton Introduction to Cultural Ecology
Introduction to Cultural Ecology provides a comprehensive discussion of the history and theoretical foundations of cultural ecology, featuring nine case studies from around the world.
Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
4 people are currently reading
35 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 4, 2010
I read this book for the class I TA, conveniently titled Cultural Ecology. Although my students found this book dry and boring, I found it very interesting. It made me think about things I had never thought about for, and I definitely learned a lot about how culture needs to be thought about when dealing with environmental issues.
What I found most interesting was when it was talking about different ways in which cultures use environmental manipulation or resource management to manage their landscapes, and included in this are religious beliefs and ceremonies, such as rain ceremonies & planting ceremonies. So often when the culture no longer believes in these, this change in belief is accompanied with a change in behavior and lifestyle that promotes short-term gain and domination over the environment. This undeniably leads to environmental degradation, long-term shortages, and eventually the culture struggling for survival, while their original religious/cultural beliefs had mechanisms in place to prevent & protect the society against these very actions. It seems obvious to me that the Western world is on the very same path to destruction as individual indigenous peoples are throughout the world today suffering from, but on a smaller scale.
What I found most interesting was when it was talking about different ways in which cultures use environmental manipulation or resource management to manage their landscapes, and included in this are religious beliefs and ceremonies, such as rain ceremonies & planting ceremonies. So often when the culture no longer believes in these, this change in belief is accompanied with a change in behavior and lifestyle that promotes short-term gain and domination over the environment. This undeniably leads to environmental degradation, long-term shortages, and eventually the culture struggling for survival, while their original religious/cultural beliefs had mechanisms in place to prevent & protect the society against these very actions. It seems obvious to me that the Western world is on the very same path to destruction as individual indigenous peoples are throughout the world today suffering from, but on a smaller scale.
March 3, 2022
Read this one for a university course, great insight into cultural ecologies. very informative.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews