The Social Construction of Nature: A Sociology of Ecological Enlightenment

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SAGE Publications, Oct 14, 1996 - Social Science - 256 pages
In this unique and agenda-setting examination of the relation between nature and culture, Klaus Eder demonstrates our ideas of nature are culturally determined, and explains how the relation between modern, industrial societies and nature is increasingly violent and destructive.

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,

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Contents

Introduction
1
Naturalistic Theories of Evolution
7
The Evolution of the Societal Relationship to Nature as
33
Copyright

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About the author (1996)

Klaus Eder has written extensively on class, social movements and social structure. He is author of the New Politics of Class (SAGE 1993).

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