Ethnographic Constructions of Indigenous Others: Indigeneity, Climate Change, and the Limits of Western Epistemology

This book examines the ways in which indigeneity interacts with climate change politics at multiple levels, and at the same time offers a self-critical reflection on the role of ethnographic research (and researchers) in this process. Through a multi-sited ethnography, it shows how indigeneity and climate change mitigation are at this point so intensely intertwined that one cannot be clearly understood without considering the other. While indigenous identities have been (re)defined in relation to climate change, it argues that indigenous peoples continue to subvert pervasive notions of the nature/culture dichotomy and disrupt our understanding of what it means to be human in relation to nature. It encourages students and researchers in anthropology, international development, and other related fields to engage in more meaningful reflection on the epistemic shortcomings of ’the West’, including in our own research, and to acknowledge the ongoing role of power, coloniality, extractivism, and Whiteness in Climate Change discourses.

George Byrne is a post-doctoral researcher at the London School of Economics and Political Science in the Centre for Women Peace and Security. His PhD in International Development at the University of Sussex focused on power and identities in international development, particularly the position of Indigenous Peoples and the role of indigeneity in climate change negotiations. George also holds an MSc in Social Research Methods, an MA in International Relations, and a BA in Latin American Development Studies and Spanish. His current research focusses on reflexive methodologies and the role of power in the interpretation of empirical research.