This short book sets out to explore the concept of nature in the context of a changing reality
in which the extent of our transformation of the environment has become evident: What is nature
and to what extent has humanity transformed it? How do nature and society relate to one
another? What does the idea of a sustainable society entail and how can nature be understood as
a political subject? What is the Anthropocene and how does it affect nature as both an idea and
a material entity? Has nature perhaps ended? In addressing these questions the author delivers
a concise but meaningful study of contemporary understandings of nature one that goes beyond
the limits posed by a single discipline. Adopting a truly comprehensive perspective the work
incorporates classical disciplines such as philosophy evolutionary theory and the history of
ideas new and mixed approaches ranging from environmental sociology to neurobiology and
ecological economics and the emerging area of the environmental humanities and represents a
growing branch of political thought that views nature as a new political subject.
