Earth-felt Belonging: Restorying intraconnecting ethics of care

Abstract:

Eco-mythologist Sharon Blackie observes that for many people living in contemporary neoliberal societies, “our relationship with place has become demythologised—a fact which is both an explanation for and a consequence of our sense of alienation from the world around us” (2020 np). She argues that processes and practices that remythologise place are not only “an interesting intellectual exercise, but an act of radical belonging” (2020 np). Heeding Blackie's (2020) call to remythologise place, this seminar presentation examines understandings and experiences of longing and belonging through intimate engagement with storied meaning-making processes. It draws on my doctoral fieldwork undertaken on Darkinjung Country (Central Coast, New South Wales, Australia) with five self-identifying women living in Australia’s colonial and patriarchal present. The research acknowledges inherent tensions in undertaking storywork on stolen lands and attempts to navigate these complexities respectfully. This presentation focuses on a key research finding that highlights an often taken-for-granted and under-researched form of belonging: emplaced Earth-felt belonging. Building on Elspeth Probyn’s (1996) ontological beingness of belonging and Donna Haraway’s (2003) concept of natureculture, I situate Earth-felt belonging through relationally embodied and emplaced entanglements which actively cultivate intraconnections (Barad 2007). These entanglements are made sense of through recognition and respect for the agency and vitality of Country and Earth-kin (Matthews 2011). The mythic landscapes of a cultural story from my Scottish ancestry are mobilised via harshscapes (spaces/places of intense unbelonging) and heartscapes (spaces/places of profound belonging) to explore how Earth-felt intraconnections and belonging are expressed and experienced. These explorations demonstrate that storywork has the potential to transform emplaced relationships in ways that foster an ethics of care.

Dr Fee Mozeley

Fee is a fixed-term lecturer with the School of Humanities, Creative Industries and Social Sciences at the University of Newcastle. Her research combines more-than-rational ways of knowing and being with critical pedagogies and social change praxes to emphasise the agency and social power of stories and storytelling.

You can view the recorded seminar HERE.

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