Cultural Responses to Natural Changes such as Climate Change

Research is steadily progressing on human responses to natural changes such as climate change, both with regard to such changes in historical as in prehistoric periods. We are, moreover, coming to a better understanding about the role of vulnerability and of institutional structures in relation to a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Espace populations sociétés
Main Author: Heyd, Thomas
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: Université des Sciences et Technologies de Lille 2010
Subjects:
art
Online Access:http://journals.openedition.org/eps/2397
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Summary:Research is steadily progressing on human responses to natural changes such as climate change, both with regard to such changes in historical as in prehistoric periods. We are, moreover, coming to a better understanding about the role of vulnerability and of institutional structures in relation to appropriate coping behaviours in the face of such environmental changes. The question concerning the cultural factors in vulnerability due to such natural changes has been little considered to date. Specifically, it is imperative to clarify how beliefs, values, practices and habits interact with the behaviour of individuals and collectivities that have to confront drastic natural changes. Ultimately, it is necessary to come to a better understanding of those values that have inter-cultural validity and may be useful in generating the necessary conditions to so that marginalised groups in our own and other societies my obtain the support which they need to adapt to such changes. In the following I discuss a case of particular cultural responses to natural changes drawn from the experience of the Alaska Tlingit and the Yukon First Nations. On dispose d’études sur les réponses humaines au changement climatique aux temps historiques et même préhistoriques. Il y a également des articles qui débattent sur le rôle de la vulnérabilité et l’importance des structures institutionnelles pour améliorer les réponses des citoyens aux défis qui pourrait signifier le changement climatique de nos jours. Mais la question du rôle des facteurs culturels face à la vulnérabilité causée par ces changements reste assez peu abordée. En particulier, il faudrait clarifier comment les croyances, les valeurs, les pratiques et les habitudes sont en interaction avec les comportements des individus et des collectifs qui affrontent les défis posés par les effets du changement climatique. Dans cet article on apporte quelques réflexions sur ces sujets, en prenant pour exemple les perspectives culturelles des croyances des peuples indigènes du ...