The stereotype of farmers as polluters served to marginalize them in the discussion of potential solutions to the Pfiesteria problem and their concerns and ideas were not taken into account by scientists and regulators. Paolisso s concluding comments about anthropology s role in uncovering competing cultural models, thus promoting dialogue among diverse social groups are guide us toward a kind of advocacy most anthropologists feel comfortable with. I refer to advocating democratic process and open communication, in contrast to advocating for a particular social group. The articles by Wali and Weeks illuminate an ideology which underwrites much of current conservation efforts namely that humans are outside of nature and, more importantly, responsible for ecological degradation. Although humans are now included in exhibits about wilderness, they are still largely represented as destroying interlopers.
Exhibits largely focus on anthropogenically caused degradation.
Wali points out that natural history museums have adequately portrayed the link between the destruction of nature and global capitalism. Missing from these accounts is an examination of the relationship between global capitalism and unequal access to resources. Museums also fail to point out the positive relationship between biological and cultural diversity. Environmental NGOs are an important contributor to conservation education and increasing Internet access makes it an attractive venue for their education campaigns. WWF, like natural history museums, focuses on the destructive aspects of the human-environment relationship.