Many progressive scholars, particularly in the social sciences, have increasingly come to acknowledge that anthropogenic climate change constitutes yet another contradiction of global capitalism. This book constitutes an effort to develop a critical social science of climate change, one that posits its roots in global capitalism with its emphasis on profit-making, a treadmill of production and consumption, heavy reliance on fossil fuels, and commitment to ongoing economic expansion. It exp...

The world now has more than a billion motor vehicles, and this number continues to increase as developing countries imitate developed societies in their adoption of the culture of automobility. This book explores the political ecology of motor vehicles in an era of growing social disparities and environmental crises, the latter of which are most manifest in anthropogenic climate change to which motor vehicles constitute a major contributor. A political ecological perspective recognizes tha...

Now in its second edition, Global Capitalism and Climate Change: The Need for an Alternative World System examines anthropogenic climate change in the context of global capitalism, a political economy that emphasizes profit-making, is committed to on-going economic growth, results in massive social inequality, fosters a treadmill of production and consumption, and is heavily reliant on fossil fuels. Looking ahead, Hans A. Baer explores the systemic changes necessary to create a more social...

In addressing the urgent questions raised by climate change, this book provides a comprehensive overview of the anthropology of climate change, guided by a critical political ecological framework. It examines the emergence and slow maturation of the anthropology of climate change, reviews the historic foundations for this work in the archaeology of climate change, and presents three alternative contemporary theoretical perspectives in the anthropology of climate change.This second ...

Now in its third edition, this textbook serves to frame understandings of health, health-related behavior, and health care in light of social and health inequality as well as structural violence. It also examines how the exercise of power in the health arena and in society overall impacts human health and well-being.Medical Anthropology and the World System: Critical Perspectives, Third Edition includes updated and expanded information on medical anthropol...

This book chronicles the transformation of the holistic health movement over the past three decades, as it increasingly influences the delivery of health care in America. In it, he describes the battle for legitimacy by alternative therapeutic practitioners, and the biomedical profession's increasing interest in the possibilities of a complementary and integrative medical system. Baer examines a variety of professionalized and lay heterodox therapeutic systems, including chiropractors, nat...

As global economic and population growth continues to skyrocket, increasingly strained resources have made one thing clear: the desperate need for an alternative to capitalism. In Democratic Eco-Socialism as a Real Utopia, Hans Baer outlines the urgent need to reevaluate historical definitions of socialism, commit to social equality and justice, and prioritize environmental sustainability. Democatic eco-socialism, as he terms it, is a system capable of mobilizing people around the...

The number of airplane flights worldwide continues to grow and is one of the many drivers of climate change. This book examines the aviation industry from an anthropological perspective, focusing on the sector’s environmental impact and the challenges facing attempts to shift to more sustainable solutions. Hans Baer outlines how airplanes have become a key component of modern cultural and social life, and how the world system has become increasingly dependent on them to function. He critic...

Recognizing that climate politics has been an increasingly contentious and heated topic in Australia over the past two decades, this book examines Australian capitalism as a driver of climate change and the nexus between the corporations and Coalition and Australian Labor parties.As a highly developed country, Australia is punching above its weight in terms of contributing to greenhouse gas emissions despite rising temperatures, droughts, water shortages and raging bushfires, storm...

With a new title that reflects the broad scope and primary concerns of the field, Introducing Health Anthropology: A Discipline in Action, Fourth Edition, provides students with a first look at the dynamic discipline of medical and health anthropology.The narrative is guided by four unifying themes. First, health anthropologists are heavily involved in the process of helping to better understand and change the world through their work in applied projects, policy initiatives, and a...

Killer Commodities enters the increasingly heated debate regarding consumer culture with a critical examination of the relationship between corporate production of goods for profit and for public health. This collection analyzes the nature and public health impact of a wide range of dangerous commercial products from around the world, and it addresses the question of how policies should be changed to better protect the public, workers, and the environment.

In the contemporary world, war rivals infectious disease as a global cause of morbidity and mortality. Since the end of World War II, there have been at least 160 wars around the world with as many as 25 million (and probably many more) people killed, most of them civilians. Directly or indirectly, war touches the lives of most people on the planet, often with lasting and costly impact. Framed by the holistic and ethnographically grounded theoretical perspective of critical medical anthrop...