ISBN13: | 9780803978492 |
ISBN10: | 0803978499 |
Binding: | Paperback |
No. of pages: | 256 pages |
Size: | 234x156 mm |
Language: | English |
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Sociology in general, methodology, handbooks
Philosophy in general
Biology, geography
Georgaphy
Sociological theory
Further reading in the field of sociology
Environmental protection
Sociology in general, methodology, handbooks (charity campaign)
Philosophy in general (charity campaign)
Biology, geography (charity campaign)
Georgaphy (charity campaign)
Sociological theory (charity campaign)
Further reading in the field of sociology (charity campaign)
Environmental protection (charity campaign)
The Social Construction of Nature
GBP 62.00
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This book is a unique and agenda-setting interpretation of nature and ecology.
Through an analysis of symbolism, ritual and taboo, Eder questions the view of nature as an object. Showing how nature is socially constructed, he presents a critique of Marx and Durkheim while offering a radical reinterpretation of the relationship among society, culture and nature.
Eder concludes with an examination of the symbolic order of society and of the role of religion in modern culture. Using a culturalist interpretation, he explains how environmentalism, and the social construction of nature, is a key index of social order and structure.
`Klaus Eder affords us with a rare, genuinely social consructionist perspective on nature. He must be credited, and his book praised, on numerous grounds. First and foremost, he retrieves, develops and introduces to a German and Anglo-Saxon readership what is probably to this day the most comprehensive and thoroughly social constructionist framework to apprehend human/nature relationships. The author also provides a sound account of food taboos across different cultures, including our own, thereby acting as a precursor to what is known as `symmetrical anthropology' This book is an important contribution to the social sciences in general' - British Journal of Sociology
`The Social Construction of Nature argues that modernity's characteristic pride in dominating nature has caused us to forget that we live in a culture which forces us into a self-destructive relationship with nature. The author shows how this is reflected in our eating practices: carnivorous culture is seen as an extension of domination going back to Greek roots, while the emerging vegetarian culture is based on the idea of harmony with nature. In this context the opposite of the natural foods movements is the industrial exploitation of nature. The final part claims that contemporary environmentalism is a turning point in the cultural evolution of modernity' - Scientific and Medical Network Journal
PART ONE: A SOCIAL THEORY OF NATURE
The Theoretical Construction of Nature
A Critique of Naturalistic Theories of Evolution
The Evolution of the Societal Relationship to Nature as a Learning Process?
An Ecological Critique of Practical Reason
PART TWO: FROM NATURE TO CULTURE
Culinary Morality
A Comparative Analysis of Food Taboos
Carnivorous and Vegetarian Culture
Two Models of the Symbolic Organization of Society
The Modern Discourse on What To Eat
A Sociology of the Natural Foods Movement
PART THREE: THE MODERN POLITICS OF NATURE
Framing and Communicating Nature
The Political Transformation of Modern Environmentalism
The Politics of Nature
A New Politics?