how could we exploit the Earth as we do?

When we attend to our experiences not as intangible minds but as sounding, speaking bodies, we begin to sense that we are heard, even listened to, by the numerous other bodies that surround us. Our sensing bodies respond to the eloquence of certain buildings and boulders, to the articulate motions of dragonflies. We find ourselves alive in a listening, speaking world. (Abram, 1996, p. 86)

How can I "participate in the creative reconstruction of a language which foregrounds our kinship with nature" (Gough, 1991, p. 40), and engage in conversations where all the actors are not human? (Haraway, 2004a; see also, Abram, 2006; Berry & Tucker, 2006; Harvey, 2006b).

What would happen if research and educational programs were really able to break down the socially constructed boundaries between humans and nature? What if knowledge produced through ancient ways of knowing was given valid space in academic texts and schooling practices?

Would we still be able to exploit the Earth as we do?