Life and Death Matters

"Praise for the First Edition: Johnston's aim of moving beyond an examination of how particular human groups become victims to how (and why) such groups successfully and unsuccessfully act in response to environmental crisis is a valuable addition to the theoretical and applied literature... The cases are extremely diverse... By painting with such a broad brush, Johnston makes clear that the relationships between human rights and environmental justice are not bounded locally (e.g., to particular grassroots efforts) or nationally (e.g., to environmental justice movements with particular nations), but must be considered in some broader, international/global context... I look forward to using the book this spring in my upper-division undergraduate course on environmental social movements." --American Anthropologist "This stunning book is the single most compelling, comprehensive resource on human rights and the environment. It is essential reading for social scientists, policymakers, environmentalists, human rights activists, practitioners, and anybody else concerned with this urgent topic."-Gregory Button, University of Tennessee, Knoxville "...Life and Death Matters connects seemingly disparate phenomena--economic development, global tourism, climate change, modern warfare and nuclear militarism--to consider how biodegenerative catastrophes displace people, contaminate ecosystems, harm human health, and compromise cultural integrity. This book dissects the controlling processes that impede efforts to create a more habitable planet. Its long-term depth and cross-cultural breadth demonstrate how anthropological perspectives can lead to a more lucid understanding of the perils that threaten us all. Critical anthropology at its finest!"...- Roberto J. Gonzalez, San Jose State University "...From climate change to China's rise as a global superpower, the human rights, environment and social justice focus in this second edition is critical and timely, demonstrating how human rights and environmental crises emerge and re-emerge and drawing attention to the many pressing issues resulting from the intersect of warfare and environmental change."...- Benedict Colombi, University of Arizona "...Johnston and her authors systematically navigate through the complex landscape of national and international governance and environmental justice constellations to address the essential questions of our times: how do such crises form and ulcerate? who pays the price? and who is reaps its benefits? With its rigorous writing, substantive data, and analyses tempered by passion, scholars, students, and all others concerned with human environmental rights will find this book to be a prime example of scholar advocacy at its best."...- Irene J. Klaver, University of North Texas "...Life and Death Matters represents socially aware, well informed, relevant and humane anthropology at its best. With deep expertise and a readily accessible style authors use case-specific experience to tell the alarming collective story of how neoliberal development and military conflict contributes to the deterioration of the environment and the increasingly precarious situation of its most vulnerable human inhabitants."...- Hugh Gusterson, George Mason University