Human health and social-ecological systems change: Rethinking health in the Anthropocene

Abstract

This review article considers how social-ecological systems change is transforming human health in the Anthropocene. From hunting and gathering bands through modern globalized societies, human health has been shaped by circular feedbacks between ecological processes, available energy sources, levels of social complexity, and cultural ontologies. As the environmental crises of the early Anthropocene (biodiversity loss, climate change, land use changes) push ecosystems across thresholds into new configurations, we are experiencing an equally profound transition for human health. Drawing on literatures from medical anthropology, sociology, complexity science, and ecological economics, this article argues that promising alternatives for health systems in the Anthropocene are emerging beyond the boundaries of the formal healthcare sector in community-based practices that can take root in a context of ecological limits, economic contraction, and growing networks of reciprocal care.