Paper short abstract:

This paper examines how human-nature relationships are being transformed due to rapid coastline erosion in North Norfolk, UK. It explores how coastal communities are adjusting to an increasingly unruly sea and the new naturalcultural discourses concerning social justice that emerge as a result.

Paper long abstract:

The arrival of the Anthropocene signals a new era in which once taken-for-granted land and seascapes are being transformed in new and unfamiliar ways. However, what these shifts mean for the underlying human-nonhuman relations that constitute such land/seascapes is less well understood. This paper addresses this shortcoming by examining the situations of coastal communities on the ‘frontline’ of global environmental change in North Norfolk in the UK. In this region, sea defences that have protected towns and villages for decades are deteriorating and, consequently, the effects of rapid coastal erosion on human settlements are becoming increasingly evident. Through the conceptual framework of ‘encountering’, I explore how human-nature relations are being reconfigured as a result and with what consequences for the actors involved. The findings show that coastal communities are becoming more and more aware of nonhuman forces as the unruly sea impinges upon daily life in various, multisensory ways. These effects not only cause people to ‘give way’ to the encroaching waters through relocation of homes and businesses but also attempt to ‘buy time’ with an active nature by extending the life of existing defences. The revitalisation of nature in coastal regions is also intersecting with long-held experiences of marginalisation and disempowerment to produce new naturalcultural discourses concerning social justice. Overall, I demonstrate how an approach that emphasises human-nonhuman encountering in the transformational era of the Anthropocene helps reveal the personal traumas and injustices experienced by different groups as well as the emergent conditions for more politically active, hopeful futures.