Paper short abstract:

This paper critically examines whether shifts towards climate ethnographies & climate justice at a planetary scale may conceal rather than reveal causes & solutions to environmental problems

Paper long abstract:

Should anthropologists replace ‘environmental ethnography’ with ‘climate ethnography’ to denote the urgency of the climate crises and advocate for climate justice at global policy levels (Crate 2011: 185)? In this paper, I critically examine whether shifts towards climate ethnographies may risk concealing – rather than revealing - causes and solutions to environmental problems. From the COPs to IPCCC reports, are activities for ‘climate justice’ becoming theatrical performances rather than measures to solve specific problems? Both the 1972 UN Conference in Stockholm to tackle Acid Rain and the 1987 Montreal Protocol phasing out the production and consumption of ozone-depleting substances showed the potential of global collective action. Since the end of the Cold War, neoliberal tenants have not only weakened the role of states but also cemented ‘business as usual’ in global trade. ‘Climate crisis’ causes despair and helplessness in individual consumers, stoking collective action. How do we as anthropologists reframe the problem back to how global consumption and extractive production is killing our planet: from species extinction and disappearing ecologies to deforestation and pollution. If climate justice is limited to greenhouse gas emissions and changes in weather over time, how do we ensure environmental justice for human and more-than-human alike?