In the face of complex global challenges like climate change and biodiversity loss, traditional approaches to sustainability are increasingly seen as inadequate. A new conceptual framework is emerging that offers a fresh perspective on human-non-human relationships in sustainability contexts. This article explores the concept of emergent entanglement and its implications for sustainability research and practice.
Understanding Emergent Entanglement
Emergent entanglement refers to the complex, interconnected relationships that arise between humans and non-human entities (e.g. animals, ecosystems, technologies) in the context of sustainability. This concept challenges traditional anthropocentric views and emphasizes the inseparability of human and non-human actors in social-ecological systems.
Key aspects of emergent entanglement include:
Relational Ontology
Emergent entanglement is grounded in a relational ontology that views humans and non-humans as mutually constituted through their interactions, rather than as pre-existing separate entities. This aligns with the concept of “intra-action”, which posits that distinct agencies emerge through their entanglement, rather than pre-existing independently.
Agency of Non-Humans – Non-human entities like animals, plants, ecosystems, and technologies are recognized as having agency and the capacity to influence sustainability outcomes, rather than being passive objects. This expanded view of agency acknowledges the active role of non-humans in shaping social-ecological dynamics.
Complex Adaptive Systems – Human-non-human entanglements are understood as complex adaptive systems characterized by non-linear dynamics, emergence, and unpredictability. This complexity lens highlights how sustainability challenges often arise from intricate feedback loops between human and natural systems.
Transdisciplinary Approach – Studying emergent entanglements requires transdisciplinary approaches that integrate insights from natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities. This allows for a more holistic understanding of sustainability that transcends disciplinary boundaries.
Implications for Sustainability – The concept of emergent entanglement has several important implications for sustainability research and practice:
Expanded Scope – It broadens the scope of sustainability efforts beyond narrow human concerns to consider the flourishing of entire social-ecological systems, including non-human entities.
Systems Thinking – It encourages systems thinking that considers complex interactions and feedback loops between human and natural systems, rather than linear cause-effect relationships.
Ethical Considerations – It raises new ethical questions about human responsibilities towards non-human entities and how to navigate competing needs in entangled systems.
Adaptive Management – It supports adaptive, flexible approaches to sustainability that can respond to the inherent unpredictability of complex human-non-human entanglements.
Knowledge Integration – It calls for integrating diverse forms of knowledge, including indigenous and local ecological knowledge, to understand human-non-human relationships.
Challenges and Future Directions
While emergent entanglement offers valuable insights for sustainability, several challenges and areas for future research remain:
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Developing practical methodologies to study and map complex human-non-human entanglements.
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Bridging conceptual frameworks with on-the-ground sustainability interventions.
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Addressing power dynamics and inequalities in human-non-human entanglements.
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Exploring how to foster beneficial emergent properties in human-non-human systems.
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Integrating emergent entanglement perspectives into policy and decision-making processes.
Conclusion
By embracing the concept of emergent entanglement, sustainability research and practice can move towards more holistic, adaptive approaches that recognize the profound interconnectedness of humans and non-humans in social-ecological systems. This shift has the potential to generate novel solutions to complex sustainability challenges and foster more ethical, harmonious relationships between humans and the non-human world.
As we grapple with increasingly complex and interconnected global challenges, frameworks that acknowledge emergent entanglements may prove crucial in fostering the kind of transformative thinking and action needed to create a truly sustainable future. The journey towards this new paradigm of sustainability is just beginning, and it promises to reshape our understanding of humanity’s place in the broader web of life on Earth.
…emergent entanglements might occur with non-human and synthetics.
References:
- Barad, K. (2007). Meeting the Universe Halfway: Quantum Physics and the Entanglement of Matter and Meaning. Duke University Press.
- Ibid.
- Bennett, J. (2010). Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of Things. Duke University Press.
- Folke, C., et al. (2005). Adaptive Governance of Social-Ecological Systems. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 30, 441-473.
- Klein, J.T. (2014). Discourses of transdisciplinarity: Looking back to the future. Futures, 63, 68-74.
- Haraway, D. (2016). Staying with the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene. Duke University Press.
- Meadows, D.H. (2008). Thinking in Systems: A Primer. Chelsea Green Publishing.
- Plumwood, V. (2002). Environmental Culture: The Ecological Crisis of Reason. Routledge.
- Berkes, F., Colding, J., & Folke, C. (2008). Navigating Social-Ecological Systems: Building Resilience for Complexity and Change. Cambridge University Press.
- Berkes, F. (2012). Sacred Ecology. Routledge.