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The Production of Nature: A Useful Lens or Flawed Marxist Viewpoint? Introduction ‘Today nature is filmed, pictured, written about and talked about everywhere. As the millennium approaches, those images and discussions are increasingly phrased in terms of crisis and catastrophe…It suffuses our households, our conversation, our economies. To speak uncritically of the natural is to ignore these social questions.’ (Wilson quoted in Robertson et al, 1996:1) It would appear that today, in this age of technological advancement and wonder, one cannot avoid the debates surrounding nature. As Wilson above proclaims, nature is at the forefront of politics, economics society and culture. Thus, as we delve further into the twenty-first century, it is perhaps necessary to take a step back and question the nature of the natural. Robertson et al (1996) highlight the importance in confronting nature in stating that the concept of ‘nature’ is fragile and muddled with political and environmental rhetoric. As Smith (1984) states, the emergence of capitalism is in part responsible for the confusion that arches over nature. He argues that this encounter has filtered out old conceptions ushering in new theories regardin