Against Nature
Against Nature
This chapter addresses the progressive resistance to nature talk by tracing key themes in the rhetoric of the nature-versus-culture debate across five identity categories: sex, disability, sexual orientation, age, and race. Reflecting on the role of nature in the rhetoric of identity-group politics reveals three recurring assumptions about nature, making nature talk seem threatening to social change: immutable nature, the idea that nature cannot be changed; normative nature, the idea that nature should not be changed; and guiltless nature, the idea that nature need not be changed because it is no one's fault. Looking across identity categories demonstrates that, first, nature has no constant meaning, as it relates to group identity and arguments for social change. Second, the assumptions about nature do not always hold up in the areas to which they commonly apply. Third, these assumptions nonetheless have some background purchase, so arguments about nature may well reflect sensible assessments of each group's hurdles to social change.
Keywords: progressive resistance, nature talk, nature-versus-culture, identity categories, identity-group politics, immutable nature, normative nature, guiltless nature, social change
NYU Press Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs, and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.
