Weathering Risk in Rural Mexico

Weathering Risk in Rural Mexico
Author: Hallie Eakin
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2022-03-29
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0816548064

From floods and droughts to tsunamis and hurricanes, recent years have seen a distressing and often devastating increase in extreme climatic events. While it is possible to study these disasters from a purely scientific perspective, a growing preponderance of evidence suggests that changes in the environment are related to both a shift in global economic relations and these weather-related disasters. In Weathering Risk in Rural Mexico, Hallie Eakin draws on ethnographic data collected in three agricultural communities in rural Mexico to show how economic and climatic change not only are linked in cause and effect at the planetary scale but also interact in unpredictable and complex ways in the context of regional political and trade relationships, national economic and social programs, and the decision-making of institutions, enterprises, and individuals. She shows how the parallel processes of globalization and climatic change result in populations that are “doubly exposed” and thus particularly vulnerable. Chapters trace the effects of El Niño in central Mexico in the late 1990s alongside some of the principal changes in the country’s agricultural policy. Eakin argues that in order to develop policies that effectively address rural poverty and agricultural development, we need an improved understanding of how households cope simultaneously with various sources of uncertainty and adjust their livelihoods to accommodate evolving environmental, political, and economic realities.

Weathering Risk in Rural Mexico

Weathering Risk in Rural Mexico
Author: Hallie Eakin
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2016-04
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 081653358X

From floods and droughts to tsunamis and hurricanes, recent years have seen a distressing and often devastating increase in extreme climatic events. While it is possible to study these disasters from a purely scientific perspective, a growing preponderance of evidence suggests that changes in the environment are related to both a shift in global economic relations and these weather-related disasters. In Weathering Risk in Rural Mexico, Hallie Eakin draws on ethnographic data collected in three agricultural communities in rural Mexico to show how economic and climatic change not only are linked in cause and effect at the planetary scale but also interact in unpredictable and complex ways in the context of regional political and trade relationships, national economic and social programs, and the decision-making of institutions, enterprises, and individuals. She shows how the parallel processes of globalization and climatic change result in populations that are “doubly exposed” and thus particularly vulnerable. Chapters trace the effects of El Niño in central Mexico in the late 1990s alongside some of the principal changes in the country’s agricultural policy. Eakin argues that in order to develop policies that effectively address rural poverty and agricultural development, we need an improved understanding of how households cope simultaneously with various sources of uncertainty and adjust their livelihoods to accommodate evolving environmental, political, and economic realities.

Urbanization and Religion in Ancient Central Mexico

Urbanization and Religion in Ancient Central Mexico
Author: David M. Carballo
Publisher: Oxford Studies in the Archaeol
Total Pages: 297
Release: 2016
Genre: History
ISBN: 0190251069

This volume examines the ways in which urbanisation and religion intersected in pre-Columbian central Mexico. It provides a materially informed history of religion and an archaeology of cities that considers religion as a generative force in societal change

Food Security and Global Environmental Change

Food Security and Global Environmental Change
Author: John Ingram
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 385
Release: 2012-07-26
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1136530894

Global environmental change (GEC) represents an immediate and unprecedented threat to the food security of hundreds of millions of people, especially those who depend on small-scale agriculture for their livelihoods. As this book shows, at the same time, agriculture and related activities also contribute to GEC by, for example, intensifying greenhouse gas emissions and altering the land surface. Responses aimed at adapting to GEC may have negative consequences for food security, just as measures taken to increase food security may exacerbate GEC. The authors show that this complex and dynamic relationship between GEC and food security is also influenced by additional factors; food systems are heavily influenced by socioeconomic conditions, which in turn are affected by multiple processes such as macro-level economic policies, political conflicts and other important drivers. The book provides a major, accessible synthesis of the current state of knowledge and thinking on the relationships between GEC and food security. Most other books addressing the subject concentrate on the links between climate change and agricultural production, and do not extend to an analysis of the wider food system which underpins food security; this book addresses the broader issues, based on a novel food system concept and stressing the need for actions at a regional, rather than just an international or local, level. It reviews new thinking which has emerged over the last decade, analyses research methods for stakeholder engagement and for undertaking studies at the regional level, and looks forward by reviewing a number of emerging 'hot topics' in the food security-GEC debate which help set new agendas for the research community at large. Published with Earth System Science Partnership, GECAFS and SCOPE

Environmental Change and Globalization

Environmental Change and Globalization
Author: Robin Leichenko
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 183
Release: 2008-09-25
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 0195177312

This work explores the connections between two of the most transformative processes of the 21st century, global environmental change and globalization. It presents a conceptual framework for analyzing the interactions between these two processes.

Climate Change: Global Risks, Challenges and Decisions

Climate Change: Global Risks, Challenges and Decisions
Author: Katherine Richardson
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 541
Release: 2011-03-03
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1139496204

Providing an up-to-date synthesis of all knowledge relevant to the climate change issue, this book ranges from the basic science documenting the need for policy action to the technologies, economic instruments and political strategies that can be employed in response to climate change. Ethical and cultural issues constraining the societal response to climate change are also discussed. This book provides a handbook for those who want to understand and contribute to meeting this challenge. It covers a very wide range of disciplines - core biophysical sciences involved with climate change (geosciences, atmospheric sciences, ocean sciences, ecology/biology) as well as economics, political science, health sciences, institutions and governance, sociology, ethics and philosophy, and engineering. As such it will be invaluable for a wide range of researchers and professionals wanting a cutting-edge synthesis of climate change issues, and for advanced student courses on climate change.

Anthropology and Climate Change

Anthropology and Climate Change
Author: Susan A Crate
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 464
Release: 2016-06-03
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 131543475X

The first book to comprehensively assess anthropology’s engagement with climate change, this pioneering volume both maps out exciting trajectories for research and issues a call to action. Chapters in part one are systematic research reviews, covering the relationship between culture and climate from prehistoric times to the present; changing anthropological discourse on climate and environment; the diversity of environmental and sociocultural changes currently occurring around the globe; and the unique methodological and epistemological tools anthropologists bring to bear on climate research. Part two includes a series of case studies that highlights leading-edge research—including some unexpected and provocative findings. Part three challenges scholars to be proactive on the front lines of climate change, providing instruction on how to work in with research communities, with innovative forms of communication, in higher education, in policy environments, as individuals, and in other critical arenas. Linking sophisticated knowledge to effective actions, Anthropology and Climate Change is essential for students and scholars in anthropology and environmental studies.

Evolving Approaches to Understanding Natural Hazards

Evolving Approaches to Understanding Natural Hazards
Author: Burrell E. Montz
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Total Pages: 515
Release: 2015-10-05
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 1443883875

The 21st century presents many challenges to the hazard manager; dynamic climatic conditions combined with population growth, rapid urbanization, and changing socio-economic relationships are reshaping disaster impacts, community responses, and social safety mechanisms. Indeed, human vulnerability is constantly restructured by the ongoing interplay of physical, social, economic, and political forces. At the same time, reducing vulnerability and enhancing community resilience require policies aimed at mitigating the consequences of disasters as they affect different locations and different groups, requiring sound scientifically-based research to further an understanding of the forces at play, and to devise appropriate means to counter them. It is within this context that this book examines evolving approaches to natural hazards. Research into natural hazards has a long tradition beginning with a focus on physical processes and evolving into an interdisciplinary agenda that incorporates interactions between the physical and human environments, embracing initiatives ranging from the physical to the socio-economic and political. It utilises various methodological approaches and technological advances, employing both quantitative and qualitative procedures. The papers included in this book offer insights into the development of applied hazards research, as they build on previous work, evolving technologies, improved understandings of the factors involved, and increased awareness of the needs of those who manage hazards. This volume shows an appreciation for the foundation that has been set, and will inspire future researchers as they look to address these very pressing social issues.

Climate Governance and Development

Climate Governance and Development
Author: Albrecht Ansohn
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 170
Release: 2010-11-05
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0821383078

The Berlin Workshop Series 2010 presents selected papers from meetings held September 28 30, 2008, at the eleventh annual forum co-hosted by InWEnt and the World Bank in preparation for the Bank s annual World Development Report. At the 2008 meetings, key researchers and policy makers from Europe, the United States, and developing countries met to explore the problems that climate governance poses for development, which are later examined in depth in the 'World Development Report 2010'. This volume presents papers from the Berlin workshop sessions on climate governance and development, covering climate change as a development priority; policies and technologies for energy and development; natural resource governance for adaptation, mitigation, and development; non-state actors and climate governance; financing adaptation and mitigation in an unequal world; and changing institutions of governance for climate change. IN THIS VOLUME: Introduction by Aehyung Kim and Boris Pleskovic; opening remarks by Carola Donner-Reichle; keynote addresses by Rosina Bierbaum and Justin Yifu Lin; and papers by Richard J. T. Klein, Judith A. Layzer, Claudia Kemfert, Siri Eriksen, Kedziora and Zbigniew W. Kundzewicz, David Rogers, Charlotte Streck, John Scanlon and Clara Nobbe, and Hugh Compston and Ian Bailey.

Tomorrow We're All Going to the Harvest

Tomorrow We're All Going to the Harvest
Author: Leigh Binford
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Total Pages: 300
Release: 2013-01-02
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0292743807

From its inception in 1966, the Canadian Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP) has grown to employ approximately 20,000 workers annually, the majority from Mexico. The program has been hailed as a model that alleviates human rights concerns because, under contract, SAWP workers travel legally, receive health benefits, contribute to pensions, are represented by Canadian consular officials, and rate the program favorably. Tomorrow We're All Going to the Harvest takes us behind the ideology and examines the daily lives of SAWP workers from Tlaxcala, Mexico (one of the leading sending states), observing the great personal and family price paid in order to experience a temporary rise in a standard of living. The book also observes the disparities of a gutted Mexican countryside versus the flourishing agriculture in Canada, where farm labor demand remains high. Drawn from extensive surveys and nearly two hundred interviews, ethnographic work in Ontario (destination of over 77 percent of migrants in the author's sample), and quantitative data, this is much more than a case study; it situates the Tlaxcala-Canada exchange within the broader issues of migration, economics, and cultural currents. Bringing to light the historical genesis of "complementary" labor markets and the contradictory positioning of Mexican government representatives, Leigh Binford also explores the language barriers and nonexistent worker networks in Canada, as well as the physical realities of the work itself, making this book a complete portrait of a provocative segment of migrant labor.