Methods in Dialogue: Researching Nature
Date and location: Wednesday 10 March 2010, Humanities Bridgeford Street Building, University of Manchester
Workshop summary
Our three speakers each introduced the different methodological approach they have taken to researching nature. This was followed by by discussion and debate from participants.
Where possible, we make the recordings of the presentations available below.
'The methodological dilemmas of an actor-network approach to historical heterogeneities'
Dr Richie Nimmo (University of Manchester)
Most social science methods still rely for their rationale upon a sharp distinction between nature and society. Actor-network theory radically problematizes this distinction, suggesting that modern knowledge-practices actually inscribe this dichotomy upon the heterogeneous and hybrid phenomena which they seek to render knowable. Yet ANT has no specific methodological approach of its own, despite a close but by no means unproblematic relationship with ethnography. In this presentation I explore the dilemmas and opportunities which this presents, with reference to my own historical research on the socio-materiality of dairy milk in the UK.
To reference this presentation video or audio
Nimmo, R (2010) Methods in Dialogue: Researching Nature 'The methodological dilemmas of an actor-network approach to historical heterogeneities' 10 March 2010, University of Manchester. Available from: www.manchester.ac.uk/realities/events/dialogue/nature
Dr Richie Nimmo is Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Manchester. View Richie Nimmo's web page (link opens in new window).
Further reading
Nimmo, R (2010) Milk, Modernity and the Making of the Human: Purifying the Social, London: Routledge. View details on Routledge website(link opens in new window)
'Cultivating Knowledge? Ethnography and Gardening'
Dr Cathrine Degnen (Newcastle University)
In 2003-2004 genetically modified food and crops in Britain were the centre of media attention and the topic of a government sponsored public debate. By good fortune, this was also when I was conducting ethnographic fieldwork on public understandings of GM in the north of England.
Rather than consult with the usual suspects on the topic (activists, scientists, food industry employees and other various ‘experts’), I wished to base my research in sites where everyday knowledge and expertise on growing food and plants were embedded. Towards this end, I began working in part with gardeners.
In this paper, I will explore how this approach to researching people’s relationships with and ideas about nature played out when put into practice. I will also explore some of the findings which point towards cultural notions of overlapping forms of sociality between humans and plants that in turn cast new light on British debates over GM.
Dr Cathrine Degnen is Lecturer in Social Anthropology at Newcastle University. View Cathrine Degnen's web page (link opens in new window.
To reference this presentation video
Degnen, C (2010) Methods in Dialogue: Researching Nature 'Cultivating Knowledge: Ethnography and Gardening' 10 March 2010, University of Manchester. Available from: www.manchester.ac.uk/realities/events/dialogue/nature
Further reading
Degnen, C (2009) 'On vegetable love: Gardening, plants, and people in the North of England' Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 15(1), pp151-167. View details on Wiley Interscience website(link opens in new window
'Researching human-animal relationships in the everyday life of a suburban neighbourhood'
Becky Tipper (University of Manchester)
View slides (new window)My research looks at relationships between animals and humans in a suburban neighbourhood. I am interested in how connections with creatures can matter in people’s everyday lives – not only relationships between people and their own pets, but also encounters with garden wildlife, interactions with neighbours’ pets, and engagements with animals in local parks and open spaces.
In this presentation, I will reflect on my use of an ethnographic approach (involving participant observation, ethnographic interviews, and documentary and media sources) to produce an account of this ‘more than human’ everyday sociality.
Becky Tipper is a researcher at the Morgan Centre for the Study of Relationships and Personal Life. View Becky Tipper's web page (link opens in new window)
To reference this presentation
Tipper, B (2010) Methods in Dialogue: Researching Nature 'Researching human-animal relationships in the everyday life of a suburban neighbourhood' 10 March 2010, University of Manchester.