Suchergebnisse

Cultural ecosystem services research is in a somewhat tumultuous state. The cultural ecosystem services (CES) idea is seen simultaneously as a welcoming, expansive addition to conservation policy-making and as a strange, square-peg-in-a-round-hole concept that should be replaced by a more appropriate metaphor or conceptual structure. This confluence of interest and skepticism suggests an opportune moment to take stock of CES, both as a concept and growing scholarly field. Here, we focus on dilemmas that characterize and constitute CES as a field of empirical inquiry and practice. We describe five tensions that characterize the field (and mirror tensions in interdisciplinary work more broadly): universalism and anti-universalism; reductionism and non-reductionism; historical and ahistorical approaches; politicized and depoliticized approaches; and objectivity and situated knowledges. We then suggest five non-mutually-exclusive roles that CES research can (and does) play: The Convener/Illuminator; the Process Police Officer; the Translator; the Revolutionary; and the Policy In-fighter. We provide examples of each tension and role, and posit that clarity and reflexivity may help to make sense of a fertile, if sometimes confusing, interdisciplinary field. Making more sense of, and being more explicit about, the contradictions and contributions of the CES field, can, we suggest, aid decision-makers, CES researchers, and others to better include these values in environmental management.

"Humans are fascinating and complex beings. With our large brains, flexible diets, and ability to get around on two feet, evolutionary history has made us different from other primates and facilitated our adaptation to practically any environment on the planet. At the same time, we are more than our biology, and there is nothing we do that does not involve culture, which encompasses our capacities for symbolic communication, intensive social cooperation, intergenerational learning, and metaphysical thinking. These points raise some interesting questions: What is it about our humanity that distinguishes us from other species? What is culture and how does it shape our origins, prehistoric pasts, and present? How do we as humans construct meaningful social worlds? What are the reasons for human biological and cultural diversity? Such questions are at the core of the study of anthropology"--