We see and hear an awful lot about nature these days: melting ice sheets, invasive species, biodiversity, genetic illnesses, over-fishing and much more besides. We live, it is said, in the Anthropocene: an era in which the human impact on the natural world is equivalent to biophysical changes that normally unfold over several millennia. We listen to a cacophony of voices instructing us how to think and feel about nature (including our own bodies), and how to act towards it. But are we empowered by all this knowledge or is our dependence on various epistemic communities allowing our thoughts, feelings and activities to be governed by others?
Drawing on over 30 years on research into the 'social constitution of nature', this book shows that what we call 'nature' is made sense of for us in ways that make it central to social order, social change and social dissent. By utilising insights and extended examples from anthropology, cultural studies, geography, philosophy, politics, sociology, science studies, this interdisciplinary book asks whether we can make sense of nature for ourselves, and thus participate more meaningfully in momentous decisions about the future of life on the planet.
