Article | Open Access
Immersion in Discomfort: At the Intersection of Worldviews Toward Co‐Governing With Integrity
| Views: | 583 | | | Downloads: | 305 |
Abstract: In the drive to embrace more inclusive, equitable, and respectful approaches to research, academics are increasingly encouraged to engage with diverse and alternate knowledges, including with First Nations and Indigenous Communities. Yet for those working at the intersection of different worldviews—known as the “cultural interface”—the experience can be accompanied by feelings of discomfort. We recognise discomfort as a personal, inner emotion of vulnerability that alerts us to unspoken, difficult conversations; to challenged beliefs and assumptions; and to the limits of our own knowledge. As a group of academics working at the cultural interface, we identify common themes across our collective experiences of discomfort, including fragility and guilt, helplessness, fear, ignorance, shame, challenged conceptions of time, and finally connection and relationality. By openly discussing and confronting our experiences of discomfort, we demonstrate that immersion in discomfort is a journey that provides opportunities for learning, understanding, and fostering co‐governing partnerships with integrity.
Keywords: co‐governance; cultural interface; discomfort; First Nations; Indigenous; integrity; knowledge; ocean governance; partnerships; worldview
Published:
Issue:
Vol 2 (2025): Knowledge Integration in Ocean Governance (In Progress)
Supplementary Files:
© Randa Sacedon, Tillmann Böhme, Freya Croft, Jodi Edwards, Anna Farmery, Elle McNeill, Makrita Solitei, Michelle Voyer. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits any use, distribution, and reproduction of the work without further permission provided the original author(s) and source are credited.