Growing Up amid Environmental Change: A Conversation with Jan David Hauck

Authors

  • Jan David Hauck Rachel Carson Center
  • Pooja Najak Rachel Carson Center

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5282/rcc-springs-20765

Abstract

Anthropologists Jan David Hauck and Pooja Nayak discuss how “Growing Up amid Environmental Change” shapes conceptions of morality and human well-being. Drawing on Jan’s decades-long research with a small hunter-gatherer community in Paraguay, the conversation shows how these experiences shed light on ways to “creatively find alternatives” when established subsistence practices are no longer viable.

Author Biographies

  • Jan David Hauck, Rachel Carson Center

    Jan David Hauck is principal investigator of an RCC-based project examining how environmental transitions impact the moral socialization of children in three Indigenous communities in Paraguay, Namibia, and Malaysia. He holds a PhD in linguistic anthropology from the University of California, Los Angeles, and an MA in sociocultural anthropology from the Free University of Berlin. His previous research was awarded funding by the British Academy, the John Templeton Foundation, and the Volkswagen Foundation.

  • Pooja Najak, Rachel Carson Center

    Pooja Nayak is a postdoctoral researcher and lecturer in the master’s program Environment and Society at the Rachel Carson Center. She holds a dual PhD in anthropology and South Asia studies from the University of Pennsylvania, US, and an MA in philosophy from Manipal University, India. Prior to entering academia, she worked across a range of media, including news broadcasting, magazine publishing, and documentary filmmaking.

Photo by Jan David Hauck. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

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Published

17-02-2026

Issue

No. 9 (2025)

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Jan David Hauck and Pooja Nayak

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.