Social Nature Theory, Practice and Politics

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. They use International case studies to illustrate their theoretical positions.The original contributions are written at a level that is appropriate for upper level students, and a helpful introduction by the editors, looking at the paradigms and perspectives that have been employed in the study of social nature, sets the chapters in context. The volume as a whole 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.

Noel Castree is Associate Professor of Geography at the 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.