Nature and Society

The contributors to this book focus on the relationship between nature and society from a variety of theoretical and ethnographic perspectives. Their work draws upon recent developments in social theory biology ethnobiology epistemology sociology of science and a wide array of ethnographic case studies -- from Amazonia the Solomon Islands Malaysia the Mollucan Islands rural comunities from Japan and north-west Europe urban Greece and laboratories of molecular biology and high-energy physics. The discussion is divided into three parts emphasising the problems posed by the nature-culture dualism some misguided attempts to respond to these problems and potential avenues out of the current dilemmas of ecological discourse.