More Than… Methods. Imagining and Building a Multi-Toolbox for Multispecies Research

Impuls-Vortrag | Impulse
International & Interdisciplinary Workshop "Multispecies Ethnography and Artistic Methods", Université de Liège, Uppsala Universitet & Radbout Universiteit, (Online), May 30-31 | 30./31.05.2022

Methods and their applications are not only connected to concepts, and to disciplines, but also to tools and instruments, and to their (possible) uses. The latter becomes even more important, and also interesting, whenever we find ourselves in situations and contexts that invite us or that demand to cross the borders of our disciplines, that are challenging the latter (and thus also us) to rethink, unlearn, undo what until then seemed to be certain, solid and fixed.

However, what does this mean for multispecies research? Being humans, and especially humans trained in academic research that at least originally and/or primarily has been focused on human cultures, human and interpersonal behaviour, human and interpersonal relationships and collaborations: How do we deal with the search – if not demand – for more-than-human approaches?
Indeed, it has been suggested that art, and artistic methods, could provide answers to the latter question; and actually in the past decade there has been a growing number of projects in the field that have been bringing together art and ethnography, and doing research by implementing methods from both disciplines. What can we learn from these endeavours?

How can they help us to rethink, unlearn, and undo – especially with respect to the fact that also in academic theory and practice, and thus also both in ethnography and in art it seems to be a sad truth that "the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house"? Or could some of them nevertheless still prove as helpful, especially after undergoing critical revisions? If so: How to we deal with methods and tools we would like to keep with? And in case want to drop and discard tools and methods in order to replace them through new ones: Where do we seek inspiration? How can we avoid the traps of Othering that wait for us whenever we are looking for this kind of help from – others? Will we be able not also to re-invent, but also to invent methods and tools, instruments and technologies for our (multi-)toolbox for multispecies research?

These are but some of the questions I would love to discuss in the workshop, and to further carry on with and exchange about in the MEAM network.

tags: alltagskultur, alltagstechnologien, art & science, biosciences, biowissenschaften, communication, ecology, everyday culture, everyday technologies, green, grün, knowledge cultures, kommunikation, kunst & wissenschaft, material, material culture, materielle kultur, media, medien, ökologie, perception, tools, urban cultures, urbane kulturen, wahrnehmung, werkzeug, wissenskulturen