Critical Perspectives on Social Constructions of Nature

This book explores the commodification of nature with a particular emphasis on how this process is perpetrated by capitalist societies.

Through the example of Italy, the book presents another lens to observe landscapes and natures and the different actors, both human and non-human, involved in their production. It draws on critical geography perspectives to unveil the socionatural dynamics that form the basis of the commodification of Italian natures. It examines how the social construction of nature in Italy produces peculiar effects on ecologies and landscapes as well as on human and non-human bodies, and how alternative socionatures emerge.

The book is written primarily for scholars, particularly in human, cultural and critical geography, political ecology, cultural studies as well as heritage, tourism, sustainability and urban studies. It will also be of interest to policymakers and planners in nature conservation, landscape planning and heritage management.

Sara Bonati, PhD in Historical, Geographical, Anthropological Studies (curriculum in Physical and Human Geography), is Assistant Professor in Human Geography at the University of Genoa (Department of Education – DiSFor) where she teaches Social Geography, Geography and Communication, and Tourism Geography. She is also associate researcher at the CIERL – Centro de Investigação em Estudos Regionais e Locais (University of Madeira). Her main research areas are disaster studies, urban studies, climate change adaptation, and vulnerability studies, especially in relation to contexts exposed to tourism pressure and landscape transformations for tourism. She participates to the informal group geo.naturae, which brings together Italian researchers who work on socionatures in Italy. She has participated in national and international research projects with different roles (e.g., LINKS H2020 European Project). She is the author of several papers on national and international journals and she has been co-editor of the Routledge book Governance of Risk, Hazards and Disasters: Trends in Theory and Practice (Forino G., Bonati S., Calandra L. 2018).

Margherita Cisani, PhD in Historical, Geographical, Anthropological Studies (curriculum in Physical and Human Geography), is Assistant Professor of Economic-Political Geography at the University of Padua (Department of Historic and Geographical Science and the Ancient World – DiSSGeA) where she teaches Tourism Geography Heritage and Sustainability. Her research focuses on the interplay between landscapes and mobilities in everyday contexts, in natural and cultural heritage landscapes as well as in formal and non-formal educational practices. She has been P.I. of the research project “Landscape Education, Heritage and Justice” funded by the Landscape Research Group in 2019. She is a member of the “Landscape Studies” group of the Italian Association of Geographers and of the “ MOHU – Mobilities and the Humanities Centre for Advanced Studies” of the University of Padua where she acted as convenor between 2019 and 2021. Among her publications: Cisani M., Castiglioni B., Di Matteo G. (2025), Patrimoni oltre natura e cultura. Le riserve della Biosfera Unesco in Italia, Mimesis.

Marco Tononi, PhD in Human and Physical Geography, is Assistant Professor of Economic-Political Geography at the Department of Foreign Languages, Literatures and Cultures of the University of Bergamo, where he teaches Geography of Movement, Environmental and Landscape Protection, Territorial Governance and Cultural Geography. His research interests concern urban geography, urban natures, urban political ecology, Geographic Information System and participatory cartography tools. He is a member of the “Environmental Geography” group within the Italian Association of Geographers. He has participated, covering different roles in some research projects, at regional and national level, concerning cultural sustainability, participatory mapping processes, cultural ecosystem services, and nature-based solutions. He is the author of several papers on national and international journals. Among his publications: Tononi M. and Pietta A. (2020), Città in transizione: un’analisi geografica delle relazioni socio-ecologiche a scala urbana, Mimesis.

Giacomo Zanolin, PhD in Cultural Heritage and Environment at the University of Milan, is currently an Associate Professor in Human Geography at the University of Genoa, Department of Educational Sciences. At the University of Genoa he teaches: Geography; Cultural heritage and tourism geography; Communication geographies and touristic publishing; Didactics of geography; and Geography of Italy and Europe. He is deputy-coordinator of the master degree in Development of Territories and Sustainable Tourisms at the University of Genoa. He is Member of the Steering Committee of the IGU Commission on the Sustainability of the Rural Systems (IGU-CSRS), President of the regional section (Liguria) of the Italian Association of Geography Teachers (AIIG) and coordinator of the national working group “Geography and Literature” of the Italian Association of Geographers (AGeI). His research interests are mainly focused on: tourism in protected areas and rural spaces; geo-literary narratives and representations; and didactics of geography. In 2023 he won, as head of unit, a Research Project of National Interest (PRIN) titled “Re-Visualising ‘the West’: geo-literary images of Europe in contemporary Sinophone writings”. Among his publications: Zanolin G. (2022), Geografia dei Parchi Nazionali Italiani, Carocci.