Conclusion: Practicing Coexistence

Abstract

While elaboration of meanings of ecological discomforts in the contexts of risk, interests, identity, relationships, and communities is important in that it offers better self-understanding, it is important to understand how such transparency can further impact embodied practices of coexistence in everyday life. To do this, I will bring up two examples of actual practices developed in response to the arrivals of recolonizing animals into human spaces. I will then proceed to show how the concepts and interpretations presented in the previous chapters can illuminate what is happening in these practices, both in terms of what they strive for and how they fall short of fulfilling their aims. Finally, it will be shown how a better understanding predicated upon the previous analyses can contribute to improving these practices. This will include illustrating how the conceptual tools proposed throughout this book can be helpful in approaching discomforting encounters.