Part front matter for Part Four Anthropology and Nature

Extract

Media reports in 2008 spoke frequently of the “human catastrophe” of flooding in the Midwestern states. Presumably this designated the tragic impacts of exceptional ecological events for families and communities in the affected areas. The banal phrase, however, conceals a provocative juxtaposition reminiscent of suggestions by Edward Soja and Michael Fischer: a “natural catastrophe” is made catastrophic by its social appropriation, that is, precisely by its human origins and effects. In this more radical sense, every natural catastrophe is a human catastrophe, not only in terms of its painful consequences for individuals but as a social product. Where does the autonomously “natural” end and the social agency of human natures begin? This section on anthropology addresses how human institutions and technologies intersect with experiences of “the natural.”

Michael Fischer delves into the political and social spaces emerging from and conditioning human experiences of the natural and of the self. Our institutions come to manifest particular understandings of life and of being, but they never do so univocally, since all institutions develop from multiple interests, communities, and legal negotiations. Fischer explores four different notions of nature in terms of such complicated discourses: the nature manifested in the distribution of natural resources or more dramatically in natural catastrophes; the nature that proceeds from technical and cultural productions; the natures rebuilt “inside out” by genetic research; and the nature that confronts us in the alterity of other sentient beings. Each of these instances allows Fischer to investigate interrelated narratives by which we attempt to gain some purchase on our place in the world despite our incomplete knowledge of it. The plural identities of human nature, whether individual or social, emerge from this interplay of narratives.

You do not currently have access to this chapter.

Sign in with email/username & password
Get email alerts
Save searches
Purchase content
Activate your purchase/trial code
Add your ORCID iD

Get help with access

Institutional access

Access to content on Oxford Academic is often provided through institutional subscriptions and purchases. If you are a member of an institution with an active account, you may be able to access content in one of the following ways:

IP based access

Typically, access is provided across an institutional network to a range of IP addresses. This authentication occurs automatically, and it is not possible to sign out of an IP authenticated account.

Sign in through your institution

Choose this option to get remote access when outside your institution. Shibboleth/Open Athens technology is used to provide single sign-on between your institutionâ€™s website and Oxford Academic.

Click Sign in through your institution.
Select your institution from the list provided, which will take you to your institution's website to sign in.
When on the institution site, please use the credentials provided by your institution. Do not use an Oxford Academic personal account.
Following successful sign in, you will be returned to Oxford Academic.

If your institution is not listed or you cannot sign in to your institutionâ€™s website, please contact your librarian or administrator.

Sign in with a library card

Enter your library card number to sign in. If you cannot sign in, please contact your librarian.

Society Members

Society member access to a journal is achieved in one of the following ways:

Sign in through society site

Many societies offer single sign-on between the society website and Oxford Academic. If you see â€˜Sign in through society siteâ€™ in the sign in pane within a journal:

Click Sign in through society site.
When on the society site, please use the credentials provided by that society. Do not use an Oxford Academic personal account.
Following successful sign in, you will be returned to Oxford Academic.

If you do not have a society account or have forgotten your username or password, please contact your society.

Sign in using a personal account

Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members. See below.

Personal account

A personal account can be used to get email alerts, save searches, purchase content, and activate subscriptions.

Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members.

Viewing your signed in accounts

Click the account icon in the top right to:

View your signed in personal account and access account management features.
View the institutional accounts that are providing access.

Signed in but can't access content

Oxford Academic is home to a wide variety of products. The institutional subscription may not cover the content that you are trying to access. If you believe you should have access to that content, please contact your librarian.

Institutional account management

For librarians and administrators, your personal account also provides access to institutional account management. Here you will find options to view and activate subscriptions, manage institutional settings and access options, access usage statistics, and more.

Metrics

Total Views 3

3 Pageviews

0 PDF Downloads

Since 8/1/2024

Month:	Total Views:
August 2024	3

Contents

Part front matter for Part Four Anthropology and Nature

Extract

Email alerts

Contents

Part front matter for Part Four Anthropology and Nature

Extract

Sign in

Personal account

Institutional access

Institutional account management

Get help with access

Institutional access

IP based access

Sign in through your institution

Sign in with a library card

Society Members

Sign in through society site

Sign in using a personal account

Personal account

Viewing your signed in accounts

Signed in but can't access content

Institutional account management

Purchase

Email alerts

This Feature Is Available To Subscribers Only