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Answer: Whenever a global issue has repercussions on the livelihoods of communities, particularly those of indigenous peoples, anthropology can offer a valuable perspective of these communities' on the ground experience. Deforestation is a global concern that can have a devastating impact on local communities worldwide. It can lead to increased greenhouse gas production and a loss of global biodiversity. The global scenarios of deforestation include demographic pressure (from births or immigration) on subsistence economies, commercial logging, road building, cash cropping, fuel wood needs associated with urban expansion, and clearing and burning associated with livestock and grazing. What can be done? Here anthropologists can and do weigh in, spurring policy makers to think about new conservation strategies. The traditional approach to cope with deforestation has been to restrict access to forested areas. Modern strategies are more likely to consider the needs, wishes, and abilities of the people (often impoverished) living in and near the forest. A challenge for the environmentally oriented applied anthropologist is to find ways to make forest preservation attractive to local people and ensure their cooperation. Applied anthropologists must work to make "good for the globe" good for the people. Answer: Cultural imperialism refers to the spread or advance of one culture at the expense of others, or its imposition on other societies, which it modifies, replaces, or destroys—usually because of differential economic or political influence. Cultural imperialism is a critical issue, as societies across the globe are becoming increasingly interconnected and interdependent. Answer: The mass media certainly have the ability to homogenize culture. However, they also allow local groups and cultures to express themselves to national and global audiences. Answer: Identities, emphatically, are not fixed. This fact is highlighted in the context of labels such as indigenous peoples and mestizos (but it applies to all identities). It counters essentialism, which describes the process of viewing an identity as established, real, and frozen, so as to hide the historical processes and politics within which that identity developed. Identities must always be seen as potentially plural, emerging through a specific process, and as ways of being someone or something in particular times and places. |