This volume offers a snapshot of anthropological perspectives on global challenges. Whilst it could not hope to represent the full scope of anthropological perspectives, those that are presented highlight some of the critical flaws embedded in such an all-encompassing notion. The contributors reveal the possibilities of reimagining the ways in which ‘challenges’ are understood and addressed and demonstrate how a combination of deep understanding of the past and collaboration, cooperation and inclusive dialogue about the future, can improve the chances of positive action. The collection thus not only shows us that perspectives must change, but also how that change might be realised. Whilst the chapters are authored solely by anthropologists, this book is not solely for anthropologists. The book is illustrative of the practical and theoretical insights that anthropology can offer those individuals, teams, and policy- and decision-makers engaged in research, mitigation and/or intervention practices in relation to the global challenges. Beyond academia, it contributes to broader understandings of the challenges we collectively face at this point in time and how we might collectively and effectively address them.
Emma Gilberthorpe is a Professor of Anthropology at the University of East Anglia, UK.
IntroductionEmma Gilberthorpe 1 Anthropology and development in the era of the ‘neo-liberal entrepreneurial university’Katy Gardner2 It takes a village: the learning environment, Amerindian relations and poor pedagogy for today’s entangled challenges Elizabeth Rahmen and Françoise Barbira Freedman3 Perspectivity and anthropological engagements in heritage-making: Challenges from the Humboldt Forum, BerlinSharon Macdonald4 A perspective through trees: anthropology, development and documentationLissant Bolton5 Mining companies as trustees of society in Colombia: company and community ambiguitiesLine Jespersgaard Jacobsen6 Alternate service providers: Traditional healers for social change in tribal communities of odishaMonika Oledzka Nielsen, Siddartha Shrestha and Lopamudra Tripathy7 Reflections on Open Dialogue in mental health clinical and ethnographic practiceDavid Mosse8 Jeopardised futures: Scanning the horizon in a changing climateAet Annist, Joonas Plaan, Noah Walker-Crawford, Bianka Plüschke-Altof and Alexander Horstmann9 Mrs Rollison stops a deportation: The discourse of care in Poland in the 2010sDominika MichalakAfterwordJohn Gledhill