ABSTRACT
Editors: Perhaps we can begin by looking at the idea of nature. Historically and cross-culturally, different social relationships to nature and different cultural definitions of nature can be observed. Sociologists also have con ceptualised nature-society relationships in different ways. In your own work, do you consider that there is really a nature 'out there', independent of our social conduct and social organisation which people struggle over, or has there never been a real nature, just different ways of relating to some fea tures of experience that people call 'nature'?
