Abstract
This chapter describes the historically changing forms of nature–society interaction for different societies and cultures in human history, with interpretations framed in (Neo-)Malthusian views, where population-growth is seen as a main factor for modification and destruction of nature, and in social–ecological perspectives, with more complex analyses of societal change and transition. Human–nature interactions are described in three complementary perspectives: as human relations with nature where humans are perceived biologically as species and as individuals; as societal relations with nature for economic systems, modes of production, socio-metabolic regimes, and societies at large; and as culturally and cognitively varying social relations with nature of social and cultural groups, including scientific, cultural, religious or spiritual constructions of society–nature relations.
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Bruckmeier, K. (2019). Environmental Change: Human Modification of Nature—Social and Environmental Consequences. In: Global Environmental Governance. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98110-9_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98110-9_2
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