9182 - Introduction Perceiving and Negotiating Environmental Change in the Indigenous Americas

(Panel opening paper held jointly by E.Dürr & H.Kammler)

Environmental change encompasses both rapid and gradual transformations of ecosystems in conjunction with globalisation. The consequences of these processes are manifold and affect social relationships, world views and economic systems. In this paper, we seek to provide an introduction into current discourses and research approaches concerning the perception of environmental change in the Americas. The focus lies on the various ways environmental change is negotiated and played out on the local level. We are particularly interested in questions of changing cultural self-description, oral history and identity politics. We will also inquire into questions of political control and revised forms of (self-)representations.

Keywords: Environment, indigenous peoples

Author: Dürr, Eveline (LMU, Germany / Deutschland)