ABSTRACT
Chapter 6 examines various public policy and social action applications of anthropological research on climate change. We note that proponents of the various anthropological perspectives tend to acknowledge that their research has an applied component, both for specific groups or societies that constitute the focus of their research and for the future of humanity in general. In this chapter, we review the applied work of anthropologists at four broad and quite distinct levels: (1) teaching about climate change in the anthropology curriculum; (2) climate policy; (3) working with local communities on climate change issues; and (4) working with and within the climate movement, both nationally and internationally. We maintain that anthropologists need to become involved as observers and engaged scholars in applied initiatives seeking to respond to climate change at the local, regional, national, and global levels. This requires that anthropologists be part of larger collective efforts to mitigate and, when necessary, adapt to climate change, whether on the part of international climate regimes, national and state or provincial governments, NGOs, or climate action and sustainability groups.
