Social Construction of Nature Short Case Study

Running head: SHORT CASE STUDY
Short Case Study
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Author’s note

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SHORT CASE STUDY
Introduction
Since the dawn of human civilization, human beings are keen to understand the
intricacies of the world around them. They sought to explore the essence of nature and make a
meaning out of their experiences of the world. What is nature? This question has vexed the
human mind since the initiation of rational exercise. Ancient thinkers, including Xeno,
Parmenides, Heraclitus, Aristotle, as well as philosophers in the ancient East have made notable
contribution to the understanding of nature. In the modern era, Descartes too has made
significant endeavours to conceptualize nature (French 2005). However, different schools of
thought have provided different worldviews to understand and rationalize the concept of nature.
In the light of the rational exercises to grasp the essence of nature, social constructivism
can offer a helpful perspective in the question at hand. “Nature is a social construct”—this
expression, although crude and fuzzy, has become commonplace in the contemporary academic
disciplines. In its widest sense, the expression refers to the link between human culture and
nature. It demonstrates how the ideas of nature are culturally constructed and modified in
different societies, following the distinct values and beliefs embedded in respective societies.
Until recently, natural and social were regarded as two distinct domains, related but contrary to
each other. However, since the last decade, anthropologists, sociologists and cultural analysts
have shed new light on the human-nature cohort, and explained how the cultural beliefs and
values define the understanding of nature in different human societies. The analyses emphasize
that human beings understand nature through the shared knowledge present across their
respective cultures. In this regard, what shared knowledge is circulated across the society and
how is it imparted can indicate a great deal on understanding how nature is viewed and treated
within a society (Demeritt 2002). National parks, museums, exhibitions, films and media are

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SHORT CASE STUDY
exemplary cases through which the circulation pattern and attitude could be understood in the
context of a particular society. Hence, along with discussing the meaning of social construct of
nature, the present study will also explore the case of National Park Hamburg’s Wadden Sea
Exhibition to understand how it contributes to the circulation of common knowledge pertaining
to nature and how does that define the public attitude.
Meaning of Social Construction of Nature
According to Burger and Luckmann (1991), society is built on the human activities that
express meaning. In this regard, human knowledge of social aspects can be demonstrated as
based on linguistic, historical and social contexts as well as conventions. The universal
categories existing in the human knowledge essentially depend on cultural contexts for their
meaning, asserts the author. Most recently, this concept has been applied in the context of
understanding environment as well. In purview of this consideration, nature itself, understood as
non-human, undomesticated wilderness is fundamentally a result of human convention of
naming and cultural practices. This notion fortifies the observation that the way human beings
view or consider nature determines their treatment of nature and natural systems. The authors
define shared or common knowledge as “the knowledge I share with others in the normal, self-
evident routines of everyday life” (Berger and Luckmann 1991). It regulates the social
interaction and connects theoretical knowledge with our everyday practice. Through the constant
participation in social interaction, the stock of knowledge seems real, as it is experienced to be
present in others as well. Thus, the shared knowledge circulated through social interaction makes
our experience objective reality. Similarly, the idea of nature, as regarded by the society as a