Ecological anthropology is a sub-field of anthropology and is defined as the "study of cultural adaptations to environments". The sub-field is also defined as, "the study of relationships between a population of humans and their biophysical environment". The focus of its research concerns "how cultural beliefs and practices helped human populations adapt to their environments, and how people used elements of their culture to maintain their ecosystems". Research pursued under this approach aims to study a wide range of human responses to environmental problems.

History of the domain and leading researchers

In the 1960s, ecological anthropology first appeared as a response to cultural ecology, a sub-field of anthropology led by Julian Steward. Steward focused on studying different modes of subsistence as methods of energy transfer and then analyzed how they determine other aspects of culture. Culture became the unit of analysis. The first ecological anthropologists explored the idea that humans as ecological populations should be the unit of analysis, and culture became the means by which that population alters and adapts to the environment. It was characterised by systems theory, functionalism and negative feedback analysis.

Benjamin S. Orlove has noted that the development of ecological anthropology has occurred in stages. "Each stage is a reaction to the previous one rather than merely an addition to it". The first stage concerns the work of Julian Steward and Leslie White, the second stage is titled 'neofunctionalism' and/or 'neoevolutionism', and the third stage is termed 'processual ecological anthropology'.

Further reading

  • McGrath, Stacy (n.d) "Ecological Anthropology", M.D Murphy (Ed) Anthropological Theories. Department of Anthropology, University of Alabama webpage <small>Accessed 8 August 2009 </small>
  • Online Journal of Ecological Anthropology, University of South Florida <small>Accessed 9 August 2009 </small>
  • Open Access Journal entitled "Ecological and Environmental Anthropology" <small>Accessed 9 August 2009 </small>