Social Nature
Theory, Practice and Politics
1. Edition October 2001
268 Pages, Softcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
This groundbreaking collection brings together for the first time diverse geographical work on the social construction of nature. Eleven leading contributors not only discuss social nature, but look at the concrete ways in which it is made and the political implications of its construction.
* Brings together for the first time diverse geographical work on the social construction of nature.
* Eleven leading contributors not only discuss social nature, but look at the concrete ways in which it is made and the political implications of its construction.
* Uses international case studies to illustrate the theoretical positions.
* A helpful introduction by the editors sets the chapters in context.
* Enables teachers and students to explore the ways in which social nature is evident and to engage with the direct implications of this for human lives, ecologies and politics.
List of Contributors.
Preface.
Acknowledgements.
1. Socializing Nature: Theory, Practice, and Politics: Noel
Castree (University of Manchester).
2. Being Constructive About Nature?: David Demeritt (Kings
College, London).
3. Nature, Poststructuralism, and Politics: Bruce Braun
(University of Minnesota) and Joel Wainwright (University of
Minnesota).
4. The Nature of 'Race': Kay Anderson (Durham University).
5. Postcolonialism and the Production of Nature: Derek Gregory
(University of British Columbia).
6. Gendered Natures: Feminism, Politics, and Social Nature: Jane
Moeckli (University of Iowa) and Bruce Braun (University of
Minnesota).
7. Social Nature and Environmental Policy in the South: Views
from Verandah and Veld: Piers Blaikie (University of East
Anglia).
8. Political Ecology: A Critical Agenda for Change?: Ray Bryant
(King's College, London).
9. Natural Disasters?: Mark Pelling (University of
Liverpool).
10. Marxism, Capitalism, and the Production of Nature: Noel
Castree (University of Manchester).
11. Dissolving Dualisms: Actor-networks and the Reimagination of
Nature: Noel Castree (University of Manchester) and Tom MacMillan
(University of Manchester).
12. Solid Rock and Shifting Sands: The Moral Paradox of saving a
Socially Constructed Nature: James Proctor (University of
California, Santa Barbara).
Index.
promiscuous and yet familiar. Social Nature is a superb
introduction to nature's complexity from the vantage point of the
very best of critical geography. An excellent introduction to the
epistemological thickets which have grown up around, and which
threaten to strangle, our understanding of Nature as artifice and
artifact." Michael Watts
"No other single volume summarizes and critically reviews the
geographical research on social nature." Choice
University of Manchester. Co-editor (with Bruce Braun) of
Remaking reality: nature at the millennium (1998), he has
published widely on social theory approaches to nature, with a
particular focus on Marxian political economy. He is currently
undertaking research on the commodifiaction of human genes and the
commercial, cultural and ethical aspects of patenting living
entities.
Bruce Braun is Assistant Professor in Geography at the
University of Minnesota. He is co-editor (with Noel Castree) of
Remaking reality: nature at the millennium (1998) and has
published widely on the social construction and cultural politics
of nature. He is currently doing research on nature, the state and
modernity in post-war Canada.
