ABSTRACT
This chapter examines most commonly used theoretical perspectives that have emerged in the anthropology of climate change. These are: the cultural ecological; the cultural interpretive; and the critical anthropological perspectives of climate change. The alternative perspectives seek to provide a framework for understanding various aspects of the human climate change interface over the course of the past century or so. Cultural ecology or ecological anthropology examines human-environment relations and has a long history in anthropology, dating back to the work of Julian Steward. Cultural ecologists generally have been somewhat slow in fully coming to grips with the far-reaching impact of climate change on human societies. Environmental anthropologists who employ a cultural interpretive perspective view culture as a set of 'perceptions as well as interpretations' that situate humans within the environment. The critical anthropology perspective on climate change is guided by an ecosocial perspective that is informed by theoretical currents in and beyond anthropology.
