Resiliency in Hostile Environments offers a rich account of cultural life across years of plenty and years of scarcity, including itinerant seasons of pastoral migration during periods of drought. Alexander's analysis of the impact of the copper mining industry on both the natural environment and on comunero culture and consciousness will interest ecological anthropologists and environmental historians, especially those in the critical subfield of political ecology. Applied anthropologists and development specialists will find relevant examples in his critique of policies and programs informed by neoliberal ideology. A case study of contested ethnicity in the development milieu is also given innovative treatment. At a broader level, the book strives to re-energize peasant studies and articulation of modes of production theory in its analysis of the persistence of these agricultural communities.