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Tending the Field : Special Issue on Agricultural Anthropology and Robert E. Rhoades
Author
Veteto, James R
Crane, Todd A
Publisher
Culture, Agriculture, Food and Environment
Publication Year
2014
Body

Taken as a whole, the five articles in this CAFE special issue offer both a reflection upon and an expansion of the diverse contributions of a founding member of the Culture and Agriculture section of AAA. In addition, four book reviews also ask us to better understand the context of 21st-century agriculture. Theresa Miller provides a comprehensive summary of Seeds of Resistance, Seeds of Hope: Place and Agency in the Conservation of Biodiversity, edited by Virginia D. Nazarea, Robert E. Rhoades, and Jenna E. Andrews-Swann. By incorporating a multiplicity of voices, including those of anthropologists, activists, conservation practitioners, and indigenous peoples, this robust volume offers readers a new way of conceptualizing biodiversity, consistently placing the farmer first, following Robert Rhoades's pioneering approach. Adriana Premat's Sowing Change: The Making of Havana's Urban Agriculture, reviewed by James Verinis, examines small-scale agriculture in contemporary urban Cuba in the context of inter- and transnational issues such as sustainable agriculture, urban greening, and social justice. Jonathan Malindine explores Swamplife: People, Gators and Mangroves Entangled in the Everglades, in which anthropologist Laura A. Ogden exposes the intricate connections between humans (mainly poor, rural white residents), household livelihood strategies, and the myriad animals and plants that compose the Everglades landscape. Finally, Eric Bowne reviewsEnvironmental Anthropology Engaging Ecotopia: Bioregionalism, Permaculture, and Ecovillages. Edited by Joshua Lockyer and James R. Veteto, the book is a complex volume of papers that challenge us to explore the ways in which environmental anthropology can help foster serious public efforts to transition to more sustainable cultures. Turning to film, Jeanne Simonelli reviews the documentary The Natural State of America: We All Live Downstream. Produced and written by anthropologist Brian Campbell (a student of Bob Rhoades), and codirected by Timothy Lucas Wistrand, Matthew Corey Gaittin, and Terrell Case, the film uses the perspectives of applied and environmental anthropology to tell the story of how residents organized and continue to fight herbicide spraying and environmental contamination in the Ozarks.

Language
English
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Journal Issue/Article
Journal Volume
36
Journal Number
1
Journal Pages
pp. 1-3
Journal Name
Culture, Agriculture, Food and Environment
Keywords
agriculture
Argentina