No Job Name B O O K R E V I E W por_135 473..474 Review of Climate change and globalization in the Arctic: an integrated approach to vulnerability assessment, by E. Carina H. Keskitalo (2008). Sterling, VA: Earthscan. 254 pp. ISBN 978-1-84407-528-7. In the past decade, much of the research on global environmental change has adopted a new conceptual and methodological framing: vulnerability. This framing draws on decades of prior research—from multiple disci- plinary perspectives and traditions—on how people produce, and respond to, conditions in their biophysical environments. The novelty in this framing is the recog- nition of the need to integrate existing ideas and methods, so as to paint a more holistic picture of the complex problems under study. Naturally, these concep- tual (e.g., Kelly & Adger 2000; McCarthy et al. 2001; Turner et al. 2003) and methodological (e.g., O’Brien & Leichenko 2000; Luers et al. 2003; Schröter et al. 2005; Polsky et al. 2007) developments have outpaced the production of empirical vulnerability assessments that employ/operationalize these framings. This book by Keskitalo is therefore a welcome addition to the literature on global environmental change, because the author applies the new conceptual and methodologi- cal framings to a specific case. Her study examines the effects of trends in climate and globalization through a bottom-up, community-based examination of three sectors (forestry, reindeer herding and fishing) in three study areas (the northern reaches of Norway, Sweden and Finland). The research is designed along three dimensions: a focus on vulnerability associated with multiple (two) stressors; a concern with how the vulner- ability is mediated by political institutions (“multi-level governance”); and an empirical emphasis on indivi- dual people’s perceptions of their vulnerabilities (i.e., a “stakeholder-driven” analysis). In the introduction and chapters 1 and 2, the author contextualizes her work within the historical develop- ment of research on human–environment interactions in general, and on the human dimensions of global envi- ronmental change in particular. Keskitalo notes that her primary (albeit not exclusive) interest in this research is in studying social (rather than biophysical) vulnerability, and in analysing adaptive capacity in terms of both indi- vidual and collective potentials and actions, covering both short and long time horizons. The author also argues for the benefit of operationalizing adaptive capacity in terms of political institutions (both formal and informal) that manifest at multiple scales, the concept of “multi- level governance”. Keskitalo’s analytical approach is to conduct semi-structured interviews and focus groups with individuals who work in these sectors, and to draw from relevant archival accounts. The next three chapters are devoted to examining sector-specific vulnerabilities. Chapter 3 examines forest industry stakeholders in northern Sweden and northern Finland. Chapter 4 assesses the perceptions of change, vulnerability and adaptive capacity among reindeer herding stakeholders in northern Norway, Sweden and Finland. Chapter 5 discusses the vulnerability and adap- tive capacity among small-scale fishing stakeholders in Finnmark County, Norway. In these chapters, the reader learns that, for example, globalization has in all cases produced an economic environment that demands Correspondence Colin Polsky, Clark University Graduate School of Geography, 950 Main Street, Worcester, MA 01610, USA. E-mail: cpolsky@clarku.edu Polar Research 28 2009 473–474 © 2009 the authors, journal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd 473 mailto:cpolsky@clarku.edu continued increases in production and decreases in costs. Also common to the three sectors examined is the question of the uncertainty posed by climate change: depending on the particular manifestation of climate change in local places, the impact could be positive or negative. For example, a warmer world might mean greater forest production, but only if the harvesters can successfully capitalize on the shorter winter, which means knowing precisely the new end-date of winter. The reader also learns of differences among the three sectors examined. Even though all three sectors are characterized by regulatory and governance influences from multiple scales (local, regional, national and inter- national), the Norwegian fisheries case study appears to manifest the most asymmetrical set of regulatory influ- ences. This industry is dominated by a host of national and international regimes that complicate the business of fishing, and, by extension, the process of adaptation by local small-scale fishermen. (In theory, these same insti- tutions could facilitate the process of local adaptation, provided the institutions focus their energies on that process.) By contrast, the forestry and reindeer herding sectors appear to be regulated by a smaller number of institutions, relatively evenly distributed across scales. This book is clearly the product of a thorough and systematic research project. The chapters are organized in a coherent and logical manner. As a result, the reader can readily assimilate the information presented. Despite the author’s success in realizing her ambitious scope, there are some shortcomings. For example, the report might have benefited from linking the discussion about present and future adaptive capacities to a more thorough his- torical account of local adaptive capacities—even if the historical stressors did not include climate change or glo- balization. Such retrospective analysis might uncover anecdotes of adaptation that would validate, in a sense, the hypothesized future adaptive capacities. Similarly, even though it is difficult to validate people’s perceptions, the book would have benefited from some discussion of the topics from other people’s perspectives. The introduc- tion reports that some archival sources are used to validate the “perception” data from the interviews and focus groups, but there remains room for a more thor- ough discussion of the topics discussed by the local stakeholders (e.g., what are the perceptions on these topics of national decision-makers or analysts?). That said, Keskitalo’s book already contains an enor- mous amount of information; these shortcomings could be addressed in a future publication. Thus, in sum, this book is a valuable contribution to the literature on the human dimensions of global environmental change. Scholars, graduate students and practitioners will benefit from reading and referencing it. Colin Polsky & Prajjwal K. Panday References Kelly P.M. & Adger W.N. 2000. Theory and practice in assessing vulnerability to climate change and facilitating adaptation. Climatic Change 47, 325–352. Luers A., Lobell D.B., Sklar L.S., Addams C.L. & Matson P.A. 2003. A method for quantifying vulnerability, applied to the agricultural system of the Yaqui Valley, Mexico. Global Environmental Change 13, 255–267. McCarthy J.J., Canziani O.F., Leary N.A., Dokken D.J. & White K.S. (eds.) 2001. Climate change 2001: impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. O’Brien K.L. & Leichenko R.M. 2000. Double exposure: assessing the impacts of climate change within the context of economic globalization. Global Environmental Change 10, 221–232. Polsky C., Neff R. & Yarnal B. 2007. Building comparable global change vulnerability assessments: the vulnerability scoping diagram. Global Environmental Change 17, 472–485. Schröter D., Polsky C. & Patt A. 2005. Assessing vulnerabilities to the effects of global change: an eight step approach. Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change 10, 573–595. Turner B.L. II, Kasperson R.E., Matson P.A., McCarthy J.J., Corell R.W., Christensen L., Eckley N., Kasperson J.X., Luers A., Martello M.L., Polsky C., Pulsipher A. & Schiller A. 2003. A framework for vulnerability analysis in sustainability science. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 100, 8074–8079. Book review Polar Research 28 2009 473–474 © 2009 the authors, journal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd474