Social science and the absence of nature: uncertainty and the reality of extremes

Abstract

The elimination of nature from social science discourse is one of the most noteworthy features of the intellectual history of the social sciences of this century. Proposals to overcome the prohibition to (re-)introduce nature into the social sciences are on the increase, and practical and theoretical justifications are offered in support of them. In this article we critically examine several sociological approaches that have attempted to respond to the ecological crisis. In the end, these approaches remain overly tied to questions of epistemology and fail to offer a satisfactory alternative. On the basis of a discussion of theories and research in the sociology of science and work on decision-making under conditions of uncertainty, we propose to develop an alternative basis for “bringing nature” into social science discourse. We explore extreme climate events to illustrate how natural phenomena appear as real, yet at the same time constructed.