Illustration by Loreta Isac-Cojocaru Environmental Anthropology: On Nature, Human Communities, and the Little-Known Reality Oana Ivan Abstract We all care about the environment, one way or another. The news in recent decades about the state of the Planet has probably made us more careful about our actions, because we care about nature and what we …
Illustration by Andreea Chirică The Political Ecology of the European Periphery Lucian Vesalon Abstract Political ecology examines the relations between communities and the environment, with a focus on the postcolonial world. Reports about human-nature interactions in geographically exotic contexts have fascinated western audiences from the very beginning. Political ecology brings an important critical dimension connected …
Illustration by Andrei Pacea Artificial? Naturally! Alec Bălășescu Abstract This article invites the reader to follow seemingly unrelated paths towards the same goal: making sense of what it means to be human in a world that casually blends discourses on nature, technology, and biology having at their centre the ideas of progress, optimization, and their …
Artificial? Naturally! – ALEC BĂLĂȘESCU / Illustration by Andrei Pacea Read More »
Illustration by Kadna Anda “No Such Thing as ‘Can’t’ in the Romanian Railroads”: On Technological Ruination and Creative Maintenance in the Age of Innovation Adrian Deoancă Abstract At the end of a frustrating work duty, I asked Iosif, the foreman of a Romanian rail repair crew, what would have happened had his team not managed …
Illustration by Cristina Barsony “It Was Beautiful, Eventually!” Nature and Ruins in Văcărești Nature Park Călin Cotoi Abstract From the late 1700s to 2016, when it became an urban nature park, Văcărești Pit was a mixture of wastelands and modernization projects on the southern fringes of Bucharest. While always integrated in the productive and power …
Illustration by Daia – Diana Grigore Notes for an Anthropology of Plastics Magdalena Crăciun Abstract Nowadays fossil-based plastics are ubiquitous. They are in our clothes, buildings, cars, and roads. Accumulations of very small pieces of plastics, called micro-plastics and nano-plastics, are present everywhere in nature and various organisms, including humans, with effects whose gravity we …
Notes for an Anthropology of Plastics – MAGDALENA CRĂCIUN / Illustration by Daia Read More »
Illustration by CO+LOR Constantin Cojocaru și Loreta Isac The Political Ecology of Locked-Down Cities Lucian Vesalon Abstract This text inventories some of the ecological consequences of city lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic and discusses critically their uneven distribution and ways in which social groups experienced them. The discussion includes a critical approach to extractive capitalism, …
Illustration by Oana Hajos A Short Introduction to Multispecies Studies and Ethnography Claudia Câmpeanu Abstract Multispecies studies is a field that was born out of the pressures generated by questioning the centrality of the human in a number of disciplines (anthropology, philosophy, history, feminist studies, ecology, art), by normalizing and extending questions and interests in …
Illustration by Ioana Șopov Is Nature Found Within or Outside of Humans? Discussions from Anthropology and Other Disciplines Ioana Savin Abstract There is increasing public awareness and debate surrounding the relationship between the environment and human society, specifically focusing on the human-nature dichotomy. The essay draws on various fields such as environmental anthropology, social ecology, …
Illustration by Kadna Anda An Ethnography of Disappearing Forests. On Power, Politics, and Scapegoats in a Village of Argeș County, Romania Ștefan Dorondel Abstract This piece looks at how Romania’s forests were destroyed by illegal logging after the Revolution of 1989. Based on my book Disrupted Landscapes. State, Peasants and the Politics of Land in …
