Ontologies of Climate Change and Leadership among the Makushi, James Andrew Whitaker (CNRS, LEEISA)
Séminaire de l'EREA
Présentation
Based on recently completed fieldwork, this paper examines local perceptions and ontologies of climate change among the Makushi in Yupukari village in the Rupununi region of Guyana. This year has seen unprecedented flooding of farms in Yupukari, which has severely disrupted cassava-based agriculture and is attributed by many to climate change. In addition to flooding, villagers also speak of changes in temperature, unpredictable rainfall conditions, ecological alterations, and irregularities in the seasons. For many, traditional survival strategies based on past crises (mostly droughts) are seen as no longer fully addressing climatic and ecological challenges in the present. This paper will describe local accounts and experiences of these changing conditions and will examine their ontological underpinnings. For the Makushi, weather phenomena are centered around notions of ownership (involving broader leadership) which implicate certain non-human beings. This paper will explore these notions and their contemporary relevance for climate change among the Makushi.
Illustration : Yupukari Village, Guyana. © James Whitaker
The EREA (Enseignement et recherche en ethnologie amérindienne) seminar is a flexible discussion space open to the public that aims to stimulate exchanges between Centre researchers, University of Paris Nanterre Department of Anthropology, and invitees from elsewhere. It serves as both a focal point for reflection on ongoing Americanist research and as a platform for doctoral students, post-docs, and associate researchers’ work.
Under the form of individual presentations, thematic cycles, or half-days of study, the seminar provides a complementay research space for meetings, namely the Séminaire d’anthropologie américaniste (SAA) and the Groupe d’enseignement et de recherche sur les Mayas et la Mésoamérique (GERM).
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