The Natural and the Social : Uncertainty, Risk, Change (2nd ed)

What does it mean to be human at a time of such technological and scientific change?

Are there any areas of our lives which are purely natural?

Are our lives governed by more risk than in the past?

How natural are natural disasters? It is no longer possible to see nature and society as entirely separate.

Environmental changes and degradation impinge upon all our lives and we may think we live in risky times, under constant threat of environmental disaster.

The Natural and the Social: Uncertainty, Risk, Change draws on insights from across the social sciences to examine the changing character of the interrelations between society and nature.

Individual chapters look in more depth at changing classifications of what it means to be human, at what distinguishes human beings from animals, medical practices, links between markets and the environment and our perception of risk and the links between social and natural matters.

Throughout readers are encouraged to draw upon their own experiences and examples of contemporary concerns to understand the theoretical and practical problems of living in this new natural-and-social world. This exciting and original text will be essential reading for anyone who wants to understand more clearly the role and the limitations of technological and scientific progress in contemporary society.