Title of Your Thesis

Raising Evelyn An analysis of parenting through the lens of relational environmental scholarship Kaseen Cook BSc, MSc Supervised By: Stewart Williams, Kate Booth and Aidan Davison University of Tasmania Submitted November 2017 To fulfil the requirements of Doctor of Philosophy A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for a Doctor of Philosophy at the School of Technology, Environments and Design - Geography and Spatial Science, University of Tasmania (November, 2017). Declaration This thesis contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any tertiary institution, and to the best of my knowledge and belief, contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference is made in the text of the thesis. Signed Kaseen Cook Date: 3/11/17 This thesis may be made available for loan. Copying of any part of this thesis is prohibited for two years from November 2017; after that limited copying is permitted in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968. Abstract The start of this project coincided with the birth of my first child, Evelyn. Becoming a parent revealed the connectivity in and among the relationships that were being made in, and often extended beyond, our home. This connectivity is analysed here in terms of relationality, or a focus on the complex aspects of engagement among self and other. In this research project, I reflect upon my own experience using the lens of relational environmental scholarship. I propose that parenting could be a praxis informed by such scholarship. Dualism is a central antagonist of relational environmental scholarship. This mode of relating is typified by the physical, emotional, cultural, and/or instrumental domination of one group of people, beings, or entities over another, usually to the long-term detriment of both. The Australian environmental and relational philosophers Val Plumwood, Freya Mathews, and Debora Bird Rose critique dualistic and dominating modes of relating to others, while conceptualising connective and dialogical alternatives. The philosophies and insights of these three authors become a scaffold for nurturing my own understanding of relationality. My methodology draws upon the practices and philosophies of autoethnography, phenomenology, and hermeneutics. I narrate several revealing parenting experiences (as they pertain to particular relational themes), and textually and reflexively analyse the messy nuances of such encounters to build upon the scholarly work of Plumwood, Mathews, and Rose. To begin my analysis, I examine Plumwood’s five qualities of dualism and demonstrate the presence of dualistic logic in the parenting practice of sleep training infants (Chapter 5). In the proceeding chapters, I build an understanding of the fine line between domination and leadership in caregiving by reflecting upon undemocratic parenting decisions (Chapter 6), unveil the ontological and epistemological grounding of relational dynamics by analysing forms of judgement in parenting (Chapter 7), and examine panpsychism in response to my daughter’s friendship with a jar of lentils to question whom we value as relational kin and why (Chapter 8). In the final chapter, the synthesis, I utilise understandings gained in the previous analysis chapters to bridge the gap between theories and practices of relationality. I conclude that deep and felt engagement, motivated by love and anxiety, plays a key role in connecting concepts of relationality with relational praxis. Praxis, in this case, is not about achieving ideal outcomes with ideal concepts, or about rejecting dualism in favour of its opposite, but rather, to embrace the complexity and imperfection of relationality and to fight for connectivity, awareness, engagement, dialogue, and reflexivity through the dynamics of relational life. Parenting, a rich and intense part of many people’s lives, offers an accessible means of embodying relational ontologies and epistemologies for both parents and children. Equally, the philosophies of Plumwood, Mathews, and Rose can extend the depth of parenting philosophy (which is predominately practice focused) through their deeper analysis of the politics, metaphysics, history, ethical frameworks, and power relations which colour relationships of care. Acknowledgements First, I’d like to thank my supervisors (Stewart Williams, my primary supervisor, Kate Booth my co-supervisor, and Aidan Davison my co-supervisor for the first year) for sticking out this thesis with me, even though it dragged on much longer than I ever expected. They were always positive, understanding, and constructive about the progress of my work. I really appreciate all of the time and effort that they contributed to help me refine my writing and better understand the literature and research traditions. Thank you so much everyone! I am also forever grateful to my husband, Michael, who worked nights and weekends to support us financially, and went on adventures with Evelyn during the day so I could work on this thesis without distraction. Without his support, it would have been very difficult to accomplish this project while parenting a young child. I would also like to thank my parents for birthing me, providing me a plentiful and adventurous childhood, and always believing that I have the power to accomplish my goals. Last, but not least, I am thankful that Evelyn chose me to be her mum. Without her, this thesis would not have come about, and I would never have had the opportunity to be forever changed by our relationship and love for one another. Table of Contents Abstract........................................................................................................................v Acknowledgements....................................................................................................vii Table of Contents......................................................................................................viii List of Figures............................................................................................................xii Chapter 1 Introduction................................................................................................13 1.1 Question, Significance, and Intention...............................................................13 1.2 Ontological and Epistemological Grounding...................................................18 Chapter 2 Literature Review.......................................................................................22 2.1 Introduction.......................................................................................................22 2.2 Val Plumwood..................................................................................................23 2.3 Freya Mathews..................................................................................................31 2.4 Deborah Bird Rose............................................................................................35 2.5 Conclusion........................................................................................................37 Chapter 3 Main Streams in Western Parenting Discourse..........................................40 3.1 Introduction.......................................................................................................40 3.2 Childhood..........................................................................................................41 3.3 The Rise of Scientific Parenting.......................................................................44 3.4 Detachment, Authority, and Moral Conformity...............................................47 3.5 Attachment and Continuum..............................................................................51 3.6 Resources for Infant Educarers (RIE)...............................................................56 3.7 Conclusion........................................................................................................59 Chapter 4 Methods and Methodology.........................................................................61 4.1 Introduction.......................................................................................................61 4.2 Qualitative Inquiry ...........................................................................................62 4.2.1 Phenomenology..........................................................................................66 4.2.2 Autoethnography........................................................................................71 4.2.3 Writing and Reflexivity as Method............................................................76 4.2.4 Ethical Considerations...............................................................................80 4.3 Conclusion........................................................................................................82 Chapter 5 The Dualistic Logic of Sleep Training.......................................................84 5.1 Introduction.......................................................................................................84 5.2 I Just Can’t Stay Awake....................................................................................86 5.3 Sleep Training: A western solution to the ‘infant sleep problem’....................92 5.4 Sleep Training and Plumwood’s Five Qualities of Dualistic Relationships...100 5.4.1 Denial.......................................................................................................101

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