A systematic and interdisciplinary approach to biodiversity in Latin America, focusing on the transformations in the societal interactions with flora and fauna that led to the new era of the Anthropocene.

Biodiversity should not be understood in biological terms only and as a thing apart from society, but rather as biocultural diversity present in the social world and in various cultures. Such a perspective might allow to relieve social conflicts as well as abuses of power, and slow the appropriation of the biosphere. This volume of the Handbook »The Anthropocene as Multiple Crisis« focuses on biodiversity in the main macro-regions of Latin America from the colonial regime to the contemporary era of the Anthropocene. The contributions enrich contemporary debates surrounding the genealogy of the Anthropocene in Latin America with critical perspectives from the social sciences and the humanities.

Autorentext

Olaf Kaltmeier, geb. 1970, ist Professor für Iberoamerikanische Geschichte an der Universität Bielefeld und Direktor des Maria Sibylla Merian Center for Advanced Latin American Studies (CALAS) in Guadalajara mit Regionalstandorten in Buenos Aires, Quito und San Jos de Costa Rica. Seine Forschungsschwerpunkte sind: Latein- und inter-amerikanische Geschichte, Soziale Bewegungen, Ethnizität im historischen Wandel, Umweltgeschichte sowie Macht- und Herrschaftskonstellationen im Kontext der Globalisierung.

León Enrique Ávila Romero trabaja en la Universidad Intercultural de Chiapas, México desde el 2005 en el área de Desarrollo Sustentable. Es líder del cuerpo académico consolidado Patrimonio, territorio y desarrollo en la frontera sur de México, miembro del Sistema Nacional de Investigadores, y trabaja con comunidades indígenas y colonias en la defensa de la naturaleza, bosques y humedales. Fue investigador invitado del CALAS en 2018/2019.