Loving the Earth by Loving a Place A Situated Approach to the Love of Nature

Abstract

Context: I extend the enactive account of loving in romantic relationships that I developed with Hanne De Jaegher to the love of nature. > Problem . I challenge a universal conceptualization of love of nature that does not account for the differences that are inherent to nature. As an alternative, I offer a situated account of loving a place as par-ticipatory sense-making. However, a question arises: How is it possible to communicate with the other-than-human? > Method . I use panpsychist and enactive conceptual tools to better define this situated approach to the love of na-ture and to reply to the research question. In particular, I focus on Mathews's ""becoming native "" and the generative tensions that unfold in a dialectic of encounter when a common language is not shared. > Results . The fundamental difference experienced in encountering the other-than-human is generative for building up the human-Earth connec-tion if we let each other be listened to. I describe the ethical dimension that permeates this type of ""enactive listening "" at the core of a situated account of love of nature. > Implications . Love of nature is of paramount importance in our current climate crisis characterized by environmental anxiety, despair, and anger. A situated love of nature emphasizes the importance of community-based local interventions to preserve the Earth. Love, thus understood as a fundamen-tal moral and political power, is a catalyst for environmental activism. > Constructivist content . My article links to participatory sense-making as defined by De Jaegher and Di Paolo, and De Jaegher's loving epistemology. It offers a broader understanding of participatory sense-making that includes the other-than-human. It also introduces the new concept of ""enactive listening. """