Luis A. Vivanco – författare

Unlike textbooks that emphasize the memorization of facts, Asking Questions About Cultural Anthropology: A Concise Introduction, Third Edition, teaches students how to think anthropologically, helping them view cultural issues as an anthropologist might. This approach demonstrates how anthropological thinking can be used as a tool for deciphering everyday experiences. The book covers the essential concepts, terms, and history of cultural anthropology, introducing students to the widely accepted fundamentals and providing a foundation that can be enriched by the use of ethnographies, a reader, articles, lectures, field-based activities, and other kinds of supplements. It balances concise coverage of essential content with a commitment to an active, learner-centered pedagogy.

This general anthropology text takes a holistic approach that emphasizes critical thinking, active learning, and applying anthropology to solve contemporary human problems. Building on the classical foundations of the discipline, Anthropology: Asking Questions About Human Origins, Diversity, and Culture, Third Edition, shows students how anthropology is connected to such current topics as food, health and medicine, and the environment. Full of relevant examples and current topics--with a focus on contemporary problems and questions--the book demonstrates the diversity and dynamism of anthropology today.

Bridges culture, nature, and sustainability through an anthropological lens on global environmental challenges Environmental anthropology offers powerful tools for making sense of today’s pressing sustainability challenges, from climate change and biodiversity loss to environmental injustice and resource conflicts. Culture, Nature, and Environmental Sustainability: An Anthropological Introduction is a comprehensive, inclusive, and problem-centered guide to understanding the cultural, political, and ecological dimensions of these issues. Grounded in over a century of ethnographic inquiry, this volume examines how human communities engage with their environments—revealing that concepts such as “sustainability,” “Anthropocene,” and “environmental justice” are not only complex but also shaped by histories, power relations, and cultural perspectives. Luis A. Vivanco and Keri Vacanti Brondo integrate diverse voices into a field often dominated by Euro-American perspectives, including Indigenous, Global South, and feminist scholarship. Each chapter begins with a pressing environmental problem and develops the analytical questions, theoretical insights, and case studies necessary to explore it. The authors address a wide range of contemporary themes, such climate, water, food systems, conservation, and multispecies relations, to equip readers to think critically, work across disciplines, and engage constructively with the complex realities of sustaining human and ecological wellbeing Exploring both the challenges and the possibilities of sustainable futures, Culture, Nature, and Environmental Sustainability: An Anthropological Introduction: Offers a future-oriented perspective on developing new ways of thinking and acting in response to environmental challengesLinks theory, ethnography, and practice in environmental anthropologyEngages with urgent global sustainability issues through real-world case studiesIncludes active learning features such as “Environmental Anthropology in Action” profiles and “Doing Anthropology of Sustainability” exercisesProvides summaries, glossaries, and curated resources to support continued studyWritten by award-winning educators with decades of teaching experience, Culture, Nature, and Environmental Sustainability: An Anthropological Introduction is ideal for intermediate and advanced undergraduates in Environmental Anthropology, Political Ecology, and Culture and Sustainability courses, particularly within anthropology, geography, sociology, and environmental studies programs.

Since the 1970s and 1980s, Monte Verde, Costa Rica has emerged as one of the most renowned sites of nature conservation and ecotourism in Costa Rica, and some would argue, Latin America. It has received substantial attention in literature and media on tropical conservation, sustainable development, and tourism. Yet most of that analysis has uncritically evaluated the Monte Verde phenomenon, using celebratory language and barely scratching the surface of the many-faceted socio-cultural transformations provoked by and accompanying environmentalism. Because of its stature, Monte Verde represents an ideal case study to examine the socio-cultural and political complexities and dilemmas of practicing environmentalism in rural Costa Rica. Based on many years of close observation, this book offers rich and original material on the ongoing struggles between environmental activists and of collective and oppositional politics to Monte Verde’s new “culture of nature.”