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3 GOVERNING SOCIETY WITH
REFERENCE TO THE NATURAL
Having sought to clarify how and why 'representation' matters in our lives in
the second half of Chapter 2 , let me now build on the early part of that chap-
ter. I want to say more about how epistemic communities of various kinds
try to exert their representational influence on us. By 'influence', as readers
will see, I mean a set of affects and effects that are quite profound - either
in actuality or potentially. We may think we can 'take or leave' any given
message or experience because of the freedom we enjoy in our daily lives.
However, I'll argue that references to nature and its collateral concepts are
part of a wider process of shaping people's identities, values and behaviours.
This process is inescapable, albeit complex and only partially coordinated.
It encompasses seemingly 'innocent', unremarkable or everyday situations,
like a weekend camping trip in the mountains or the purchase of tinned
tuna caught with 'dolphin friendly' nets. Whether we realise it or not, we're
routinely being invited to imbibe certain ideas, norms and practices which
we then take to be our own (or not, as the case may be). This raises some
key questions about epistemic communities, their representations, and the
ways in which we respond to them.
These questions, I will suggest, speak to fundamental issues of liberty,
control and government. References to nature and its collateral concepts, it
turns out, are absolutely central in shaping what sort of people we become -
beginning when we're very young. They're also central to answering what
many commentators regard as the most important question of all: 'how
should we live?' While this is obvious in the case of something like the
science of anthropogenic climate change, I'll argue that we need to attend to
the full range of arenas in which one or more of the four meanings of nature
are used to elicit an intellectual, emotional or practical response from us.
HOW COMMUNICATION WORKS
Genres of communication and modes of representation
As we go about our daily business, we're all well attuned to the different
genres of communication that are used by others to instruct, entertain,
motivate, move or provoke us. 'Genre' is a literary term, but it has
wide applicability. It points us to the stylistic differences between different
 
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