Gongsheng in Ecological Anthropology

Ecological anthropology is a science that uses the theories and methods of anthropology to study the relations between culture, society, and the environment. Environmental determinism, cultural ecology, and neofunctionalism reveal different views of gongsheng. Currently, the idea and paradigm that humans live in a state of gongsheng with nature and that human society and the environment influence each other to create complex systems is widely recognized by ecological anthropologists. Cognitive theory, technological practice, and organizational mechanisms link cultural diversity and biological diversity together. The Anthropocene, the “Capitalocene,” and globalization have led to “de-gongsheng,” which has, in turn, caused a series of complex ramifications. Reaffirming local knowledge and traditional practice, integrating environmental justice to coordinate human relations, and turning to multispecies ethnography are possible paths of “re-gongsheng.”