Michel Lussault:
Die räumlichen Anordnungen der natürlichen Künstlichkeiten
Modern European society is based on
a number of major divisions – a key separation being that of nature and
culture. In this division, nature is viewed as a force operating outside of
society, a force that has to be controlled or placated. This preconceived view
has led natural sciences to ignore social issues. It has also resulted in
social sciences consistently playing down the importance of physical facts.
This article demonstrates the
importance of adopting a new conception of nature. It is not an autonomous
force operating outside of society, but it is itself a social construct. It
incorporates a range of phenomena, knowledge, representations, discourses and
practices which are the result of a selective integration of physical and
biological processes by society.
Thus nature can be found in
various ways in every single social object, in every human space. This article
applies this concept to geography, with a critical analysis of the different
theories of nature adopted by the French school of geographers since Paul Vidal
de la Blache. The author points out different possible developments in
geography to grasp the dimension of nature in social space(s) with more
pertinence.