David Hecht | The University of Georgia (original) (raw)

Papers by David Hecht

Lambda Alpha Journal, 2011

With the Tropic of Cancer separating temperate climate zones to the north and tropical climate zo... more With the Tropic of Cancer separating temperate climate zones to the north and tropical climate zones to the south, Yunnan province, China is an area of tremendous ecological and cultural diversity. The tropical Xishuangbanna Prefecture in southern Yunnan is one of the most culturally and biologically complex places in the province and the whole of China. In studying local expressions of the relationships that exist between tropical plant ecology, ecological knowledge of Xishuangbanna’s Dai people, and Theravada Buddhist religious practices in Ganlanba, China, I aim to present an example of the complexities that exist between humans, religion, and the natural world while acknowledging the spiritual realities within the Dai socio-cultural universe. As a representative case study of the way local ecologies can act upon and condition our human ecology (and vice versa), I aim to present insights into the magnitude of impact ecological knowledge systems have on Dai spiritual agency.

Integrative Conservation Research Brief, 2019

In the Eastern Himalayas, spiritual practices and cultural worldviews influence how conservation ... more In the Eastern Himalayas, spiritual practices and cultural worldviews influence how conservation is practiced, as much
as international foreign aid, domestic politics, and endangered species agendas. Lived religious beliefs are cognitive and experiential, but can also be spatial and geographical, and have profound implications for the way in which conservation is practiced. Protected areas and sites of conservation in the Kingdom of Bhutan are deeply interwoven with such religious and spiritual histories, where a suite of protective local deities and spirits are known to preside over forests, lakes, trees, rocks, rivers, and mountains, and mediate relationships between communities and their environments. These places
are locally referred to as “citadels of the deity”, protected areas imbued with social prohibitions and ritual practices that govern community choices and behavior. In partnership
with the Royal Society for Protection of Nature (RSPN), my
research explores how these cultural realities influence
community-based conservation practices and ideologies, and ultimately environmental integrity and protected area management.

Drafts by David Hecht

Ecological Anthropology (Course), 2015

The concept of animism has undergone multiple iterations. Lately, it has found a resurgence in co... more The concept of animism has undergone multiple iterations. Lately, it has found a
resurgence in contemporary theorists that straddle the evolving disciplines of anthropology and
philosophy. The concept of animism in anthropological history was largely contextualized in 19th century
evolutionism and progressionism. This era held animism as a social construct largely denigrated to the
realm of the “primitive” in human society. In the realm of early ecologically-oriented anthropology,
“animism” was understood as a pervasive universal that occurred in the earliest stages of every social
system; thus the notion of “animism”, at least in its primary application, could be considered a theoretical
principle; a principle that originally existed as a structural conceptualization embedded in cultural
evolutionism. While particular elements of this early conceptualization have subtly persisted in the
discipline of anthropology, new mechanisms for understanding and contextualizing animism in
contemporary anthropological theory and philosophy have emerged to re-conceptualize animism. This
“new” animism could simultaneously be expressed as theory of “post-Cartesian animism”. While my
examples of contemporary understandings of animism derive from the socio-cultural realities of the
Upper Kolyma Yukaghirs, a small group of indigenous Siberian hunters in Nelemnoye, Sakha Republic,
Russia, this review is primary concerned with the theoretical understory post-Cartesian animism. More
specifically, I will analyze the theoretical trajectory of animism from its early conceptualizations within
19th century Anthropology, to a modern understanding and visualization of animism through a post-
Cartesian lens and a re-conceptualization of cultural phenomenology. In this way, re-vitalizing “animism”
from its historical roots has the potential to more thoroughly frame epistemological complexities at the
interface of the human and the animate “other”.

Remote Sensing (Course), 2017

Remote sensing applications are diverse, varied, and easily transferable across disciplinary line... more Remote sensing applications are diverse, varied, and easily transferable across disciplinary lines, grounded in theory that offers a strong empirical foundation for multi-dimensional social and ecological investigations into landscape patterns and land-use designations. While remote sensing tools are useful for identifying certain ecological and social spatial realties, it may be valuable to consider what limitations and challenges exist when applying these tools when confronted with a research framework that is grounded in systems of belief, subjective values, and culturally contextual perceptions; moreover, how do or can these systems of knowing operate in tandem conceptually with measurable attributes such as light reflectivity, absorption in vegetation, water, ground, earth. In this paper, I will investigate how remote sensing and geographical information systems (GIS) can be used for gaining insights into patterns seen in socially-defined landscapes denoted regionally as sacred natural sites, sacred groves, spiritual landscapes, and local deity realms, considering various implications and challenges therein.

Lambda Alpha Journal, 2011

With the Tropic of Cancer separating temperate climate zones to the north and tropical climate zo... more With the Tropic of Cancer separating temperate climate zones to the north and tropical climate zones to the south, Yunnan province, China is an area of tremendous ecological and cultural diversity. The tropical Xishuangbanna Prefecture in southern Yunnan is one of the most culturally and biologically complex places in the province and the whole of China. In studying local expressions of the relationships that exist between tropical plant ecology, ecological knowledge of Xishuangbanna’s Dai people, and Theravada Buddhist religious practices in Ganlanba, China, I aim to present an example of the complexities that exist between humans, religion, and the natural world while acknowledging the spiritual realities within the Dai socio-cultural universe. As a representative case study of the way local ecologies can act upon and condition our human ecology (and vice versa), I aim to present insights into the magnitude of impact ecological knowledge systems have on Dai spiritual agency.

Integrative Conservation Research Brief, 2019

In the Eastern Himalayas, spiritual practices and cultural worldviews influence how conservation ... more In the Eastern Himalayas, spiritual practices and cultural worldviews influence how conservation is practiced, as much
as international foreign aid, domestic politics, and endangered species agendas. Lived religious beliefs are cognitive and experiential, but can also be spatial and geographical, and have profound implications for the way in which conservation is practiced. Protected areas and sites of conservation in the Kingdom of Bhutan are deeply interwoven with such religious and spiritual histories, where a suite of protective local deities and spirits are known to preside over forests, lakes, trees, rocks, rivers, and mountains, and mediate relationships between communities and their environments. These places
are locally referred to as “citadels of the deity”, protected areas imbued with social prohibitions and ritual practices that govern community choices and behavior. In partnership
with the Royal Society for Protection of Nature (RSPN), my
research explores how these cultural realities influence
community-based conservation practices and ideologies, and ultimately environmental integrity and protected area management.

Ecological Anthropology (Course), 2015

The concept of animism has undergone multiple iterations. Lately, it has found a resurgence in co... more The concept of animism has undergone multiple iterations. Lately, it has found a
resurgence in contemporary theorists that straddle the evolving disciplines of anthropology and
philosophy. The concept of animism in anthropological history was largely contextualized in 19th century
evolutionism and progressionism. This era held animism as a social construct largely denigrated to the
realm of the “primitive” in human society. In the realm of early ecologically-oriented anthropology,
“animism” was understood as a pervasive universal that occurred in the earliest stages of every social
system; thus the notion of “animism”, at least in its primary application, could be considered a theoretical
principle; a principle that originally existed as a structural conceptualization embedded in cultural
evolutionism. While particular elements of this early conceptualization have subtly persisted in the
discipline of anthropology, new mechanisms for understanding and contextualizing animism in
contemporary anthropological theory and philosophy have emerged to re-conceptualize animism. This
“new” animism could simultaneously be expressed as theory of “post-Cartesian animism”. While my
examples of contemporary understandings of animism derive from the socio-cultural realities of the
Upper Kolyma Yukaghirs, a small group of indigenous Siberian hunters in Nelemnoye, Sakha Republic,
Russia, this review is primary concerned with the theoretical understory post-Cartesian animism. More
specifically, I will analyze the theoretical trajectory of animism from its early conceptualizations within
19th century Anthropology, to a modern understanding and visualization of animism through a post-
Cartesian lens and a re-conceptualization of cultural phenomenology. In this way, re-vitalizing “animism”
from its historical roots has the potential to more thoroughly frame epistemological complexities at the
interface of the human and the animate “other”.

Remote Sensing (Course), 2017

Remote sensing applications are diverse, varied, and easily transferable across disciplinary line... more Remote sensing applications are diverse, varied, and easily transferable across disciplinary lines, grounded in theory that offers a strong empirical foundation for multi-dimensional social and ecological investigations into landscape patterns and land-use designations. While remote sensing tools are useful for identifying certain ecological and social spatial realties, it may be valuable to consider what limitations and challenges exist when applying these tools when confronted with a research framework that is grounded in systems of belief, subjective values, and culturally contextual perceptions; moreover, how do or can these systems of knowing operate in tandem conceptually with measurable attributes such as light reflectivity, absorption in vegetation, water, ground, earth. In this paper, I will investigate how remote sensing and geographical information systems (GIS) can be used for gaining insights into patterns seen in socially-defined landscapes denoted regionally as sacred natural sites, sacred groves, spiritual landscapes, and local deity realms, considering various implications and challenges therein.