DeepSummary
In this episode, Dr. Juanita Sundberg discusses how our relationships with the more-than-human world are often shaped by our institutions and knowledge systems, which do not always honor diverse cosmologies and relationalities of life. She highlights how our existence is determined not only by political and societal constructs of borders and boundaries but also by some of the most overlooked elements of the living world.
Sundberg draws on her work with Indigenous communities and organizations to demonstrate how the natural environment inflects and confounds the policies of border security. She emphasizes the need to challenge human exceptionalism and critically examine our understandings of what it means to be human in this world.
Sundberg calls for a transformation in our relationships with others, moving away from individuality and towards relationality, recognizing our interdependencies and the ways we rely on others. She encourages courage and bravery to stand up for a world where greed and destruction are not the primary drivers of society.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Challenge human exceptionalism and the belief in human superiority over the more-than-human world.
- Examine our relationships with others and transform them from individualistic to relational and collective.
- Recognize our interdependencies and the ways we rely on others, including the more-than-human world.
- Critique mainstream institutions and knowledge systems that perpetuate colonial and capitalist modes of relating.
- Embrace courage and bravery to stand up for a world where greed and destruction are not the primary drivers.
- Consider the perspectives and cosmologies of Indigenous communities and their relationships with the land and environment.
- Understand how borders and boundaries shape and are shaped by the natural environment and more-than-human worlds.
- Question the dominant narratives and frameworks that shape our understanding of the world and our place within it.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “What we call cheapened labor, it's not cheap labor because it's not essential to that person, right. It is a condition that has been forced upon that person. Their labor has been cheapened.“ by Juanita Sundberg
- “They tried to break my soul they came cut my tongue I couldn't run away my body paralyzed they like to take our soul my name won't strong someday the wrongs they will come to realize.“ by Juanita Sundberg
- “If I were to make a call to action right now in this, in this space, I would ask us to rethink our relationships with others and begin sort of transforming those relationships as we've been talking about, kind of moving away from individuality and moving towards relationality.“ by Juanita Sundberg
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Episode Information
Green Dreamer: Seeding change towards collective healing, sustainability, regeneration
Kamea Chayne
6/26/24
In this conversation with Dr. Juanita Sundberg, we explore how our relationships with the more-than-human world are often shaped by our institutions and knowledge systems — which don’t always honor the diverse cosmologies and relationalities of life.
Juanita draws on her work with Indigenous communities and organizations as she highlights how our existence is determined not only by political and societal constructs of borders and boundaries, but by some of the most overlooked elements of the living world.
What is the significance of unraveling colonial modes of relating? What does it mean to nuance the concept of “human exceptionalism"? And how do we collectively re-enliven and heal such senses of dissociation?
Tune in and subscribe to Green Dreamer via any podcast app, and read our episode transcript and show notes at greendreamer.com.