Embodied Inequalities of the Anthropocene. Building Capacity in Medical Anthropology

This collaboration between Brazil, Mexico and the UK brings together environmental, indigenous, biosocial, multispecies, gender and theoretical expertise in Medical Anthropology, to extend interdisciplinary engagement concerning how the Anthropocene epoch impacts on human health. Supported by a post-doctoral researcher in each of the collaborating centres, we will develop Medical Anthropology in four areas: i) indigenous experience and coloniality of the Anthropocene, ii) gender, reproduction and environmental justice, iii) multispecies ethnography and human-animal health, iv) COVID-19 and public understanding of the Anthropocene. From this research and in conjunction with open access publisher UCL Press, we will develop a tri-lingual digital resource for teaching and public reference. Our collaboration will begin online with bi-monthly meetings followed in February 2022 by a three day virtual cross-disciplinary seminar with invited expertise in science, geography, politics and history. We will work collaboratively to examine how these disciplines can inform Medical Anthropology of the Anthropocene and to identify articulations with policy and practice as these impact on human and environmental wellbeing. In November 2022 we will hold a face-to-face workshop in Mexico to develop dissemination and publications including the digital teaching resource and a multilingual special edition of a Latin American Medical Anthropology journal.