Nature connections for the Anthropocene: a vital materialist exploration of human relationships with nonhuman natures

Hackney, Damien (2025) Nature connections for the Anthropocene: a vital materialist exploration of human relationships with nonhuman natures. Doctoral thesis, Plymouth Marjon University.

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Abstract

This thesis rests on the premise that Anthropogenic climate change and ecological damage present problems that require a fundamental shift in human relationships to nonhuman natures. Whilst not objecting to technology driven solutions to specific problems, I assert that any solutions must be guided by perceiving the nonhuman world as a more-than-human community. This is contrary to the dominant Western worldview since the enlightenment, from which humans have learnt to separate themselves from the rest of nature, which tends to be perceived as inert and passive (Merchant, 2005). Since the early 2000s, the Anthropocene concept troubles this separation by challenging a perception of nature as a domain separate from humans and human culture, and highlighting the interconnectedness of human and nonhuman natures (Arias-Maldonado, 2015). This perspective has prompted concerns among conservationists that support for habitat protection will diminish because of the deconstruction of human/nature dualism (Büscher & Fletcher, 2019; Wilson, 2016; Wuerthner, Crist & Butler, 2015). Seeking to resolve this tension, I explore the implications of human relationships with nonhuman natures in the Anthropocene through a qualitative study of people involved in the nature-connection and bonsai communities. The research is interdisciplinary, bridging environmental psychology, environmental ethics, and political ecology. I employ Clark et al.’s (2018) situational analysis as my method because of its cartographic approach to analysing material and discursive situations of more�than-human relationality. Drawing on in-depth interviews with people from the UK and across Europe, I examine the interplay between worldviews, environmental discourse, perceptions of nonhuman value, and material practices. My findings contribute to understanding the multi-paradigmatic contradictions within nature-connection, and the role of human culture in addressing ecological challenges in the Anthropocene. I propose a theoretical shift toward panpsychism – a worldview that acknowledges the intrinsic value of nonhuman natures and creates a rational premise for their moral consideration. I argue that a movement in Western cultures toward a panpsychist outlook could facilitate a profound transformation in human relationships to nonhuman natures and strengthen support for conservation endeavours

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Depositing User:	Ms Raisa Burton
Date Deposited:	05 Aug 2025 10:50
Last Modified:	05 Aug 2025 10:50
URI:	https://marjon.repository.guildhe.ac.uk/id/eprint/18008

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