A Conversation with Lori Hunter

BY ANDREA LAM

NORTON SOCIOLOGY

Q: Your research deals with the complex, interconnected ways in which human populations react and interact with their natural environments. Why do you feel that it is important to study environmental sociology? One need only look at contemporary environmental changes to see the critical importance of examining societys connection with the natural environment. Human decision-making at the individual-level, for example, consumption decisions, have environmental implications. Macro-level decision-making, for example, national and international policies relating to renewable energy and/or emission levels, also clearly shape local, regional and global environments. I would argue that connecting humans with the environment in scientific inquiry is the only pathway through which we can truly inform environmental policy and programs. Q: Much of your recent work explores the relationship of natural resources and rural livelihoods in South Africa, specifically in the Agincourt Health and Demographic Surveillance Site. What drew you to study rural South Africa in particular? South Africa is such a fascinating place. I began working in South Africa primarily because of existing connections between my university, University of Colorado at Boulder, and the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa which runs the Agincourt study site. Lesson for budding sociologists: networking is key! For years, Id been interested in adding an international dimension to my research and the opportunity to undertake research at Agincourt was truly a dream come true. The research setting is rural South Africa, where households remain dependent on a daily basis on local natural resources collected primarily from surrounding communal landscapes. In this way, natural resource dependence reflects much of what is found in broader rural sub-Saharan Africa. Still, a key difference is that for nearly 15 years there has been annual data collection in the region, with the explicit intent of providing information through which researchers can study social processes to inform policy and programs. I work collaboratively with Wayne Twine and others at Agincourt to link livelihoods and natural resources to better understand the implications that environmental change may have on rural African households. Setting up a study site in such a setting is incredibly challenging and I am blessed to be able to work with a well-established, forward-thinking research organization. Q: You have also recently done research on the effects of the environment and environmental change on health in developing countries, with a focus on HIV/AIDS. What are some of the connections that you observed, and what is their impact on rural livelihoods? My research connecting HIV/AIDS and livelihoods has been collaborative primarily with Wayne Twine (University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa) and CU-Boulder Ph.D. student Laura Patterson. We have found that poverty-impacted households, including those impacted by HIV/AIDS mortality, tend to rely more heavily on natural resources which is likely a response to loss of income and/or household labor. Natural resources, such as wild fruit and vegetables, act as a sort of safety net for households in times of crisis. An important concern is with climate change ~ if this safety net becomes less secure, rural households will become increasingly vulnerable.

Find us on Facebook: Norton Sociology

Follow us on Twitter: WWNsoc

Subscribe to our channel: NortonSoc

W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. Independent and Employee-owned wwnorton.com/soc

-1-

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES
Lori M. Hunter, Wayne Twine, and Aaron Johnson. (2011). Adult Mortality and Natural Resource Use in Rural South Africa: Evidence from the Agincourt Health and Demographic Surveillance Site. Society and Natural Resources. 24(3): 256-275. Lori M. Hunter, RogerMark De Souza and Wayne Twine. 2008. The Environmental Dimensions of the HIV/ AIDS Pandemic: A Call for Scholarship and EvidenceBased Interventions. Guest Editor Introduction to Special Issue on HIV/AIDS and the Environment. Population and Environment. Vol. 29, Nos. 3-4 Hunter, Lori M. 2005. Migration and Environmental Hazards. Population and Environment. Vol. 26, No. 4: 273-302

Q: Could you talk a bit about your work on the demographic effects of climate change, particularly as it concerns population migration? There is a lot of public and policy concern with the possibility of intensified migration due to climate change. Although certainly some households will be forced to relocate, such livelihood migration is not likely to result in mass movement across international borders. Basically, research shows that crossnational migration tends to be expensive, and households vulnerable to climate change particularly in less developed regions, tend to be the poorest of the poor. Q: In recent years, the discussion of climate change and its effects has had an increased presence in American popular culture. What are your thoughts on how the public perception of climate change differs between American and rural South African populations? Recent research published in the journal Population and Environment and elsewhere, demonstrates that the American public increasingly expresses concern with climate change in general. However, in rural South Africa, households tend to understand climate change in more local terms. I recently published two articles, one in Society and Natural Resources and one in Social Science Quarterly, that show high levels of concern with environmental issues among rural South African and Ghanian residents although theyre less likely to put such concern in terms of global environmental change. Q: How do you hope your research will effect positive change in environmental policy? I tend to examine intersections that are less obvious the connection between HIV/AIDS and natural resources, for example and its my hope that the provision of empirical examination of these connections will shed light on their importance. That said, I believe far more should be done by social scientists to bring our work to the attention of policymakers. Graduate programs should include courses on outreach and dissemination strategies in order that new faculty are better equipped to generate impactful work. Researchers should also work more closely with outreach and dissemination organizations, such as the Population Reference Bureau (www.prb.org) and the Population Council (www.populationcouncil.org) to generate more policy attention around sociological scholarship. For too long, we have generated research with the hope that it garners policy attention I believe we need to work harder and smarter to ensure that it garners such attention. Q: How do you see the study of environmental sociology developing in the future? I believe environmental sociology will continue to become more interdisicplinary, linking to cognate fields such a human geography and anthropology. I also believe we will increasingly collaborate with natural scientists on projects linking social and environmental systems. Such interdisciplinarity is essential if we aim to make a difference since environmental processes are, by nature, not pigeonholed into cross-cutting and must be examined holistically. This Interview has been condensed and edited.

LORI HUNTER is Associate Professor of Sociology and Environmental Studies at University of Colorado at Boulder.

B W. W. NORTON & COMPANY, the oldest and largest publishing house owned wholly by its employees, strives to carry out the imperative of its founder to publish books not for a single season, but for the years in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, college textbooks, cookbooks, art books and professional books. For more information please visit wwnorton.com/soc.

W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. Independent and Employee-owned wwnorton.com/soc

-2-