Speaking with specters: experimental geographies in practice

Patchett, Merle M; Enigbokan, Adeola

doi:10.1177/1474474011422030

Cited by 17 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…Taking risks is equally about embracing failure as something affirmative and generative – an event that helps us to develop new techniques for thinking experimentally in “the movement from theory to the empirical and back again” (Gerlach & Jellis, , p. 143). We see this geographic appeal to experiment (see also Enigbokan & Patchett, ; Jellis, ; Jellis & Gerlach, ; Last, ) as intrinsic to the practice of post‐humanism and, while by no means the only philosopher to experience an “aversion to humanism” (Gutting, , p. 147), we follow a Deleuzian logic of experimentation as an alternative to the representational and humanistic logics of interpretation (Deleuze & Parnet, , p. 36). It is thus an experimentation that is open to what emerges in the field, without overcoding the process with preconceived expectations that are not predicated on the result.…”

Section: Key Tenetsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Practising post‐humanism in geographical research

Williams

Patchett

Lapworth

et al. 2019

Trans Inst British Geog

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Post-humanist theories shaping contemporary geographic research have unsettled the privileged position of the "human" as a common reference to apprehend social life. This decentring of the human demands that we rethink our expectations of, and approaches to, methodological practice and the traditional distinctions made between the theoretical and the empirical. In this introduction and the following interventions, we explore how a material situatedness and attention to nonhuman agencies within post-humanist thought complement and extend existing methodological innovations within human geography. We do so with reference to a series of Masters workshopsa somewhat overlooked space of research-creationeach of which explored the implications of post-humanism on methodological practice. The introduction concludes with three key tenets that were followed in each of the individual workshops, and which set out an ethos for practising post-humanism more broadly. K E Y W O R D S experimentation, geographic method, Masters workshops, nonhuman intensities, post-humanist theory, theory/practice divide 1 | PRACTISING POST-HUMANISM: WHY NOW?Recently, there has been a push to explore more experimental orientations to the "doing" of research and to develop practices that problematise methodological assumptions pertaining to rigour, reliability, and representation within geography (Dowling et al., 2016(Dowling et al., , 2017(Dowling et al., , 2018Vannini, 2015;Whatmore, 2006). In this paper we contribute to these exciting debates by engaging with the way post-humanist theoretical innovations shaping contemporary human geography require us to rethink the empirical demands and methodological responsibilities of geographical research. In bringing the material and affective registers of social life to the fore, post-humanist theories have the potential to reconfigure our relation to research practices in ways that trouble the traditional distinction between the theoretical and the empirical. It is in this potential for capturing novel aspects of contemporary social and cultural life, in excess of human durations, that we situate our concern for the practice of post-humanism within human geography.Responding to the call to experiment methodologically, the turn to more-than-human geographies has done much to broaden the remit of contemporary research to include the agency of the nonhuman in shaping social life. As Bastian et al. (2016, p. 2) note, a key concern here is "to take nonhuman life, and the entanglements of human/nonhuman life seriously" in the production of geographical knowledge. This concern is precisely about the challenge of attending to diverse nonhuman agencies in ways that demand different approaches to the act of doing geographical research. In turning to the relationship between post-humanism and geographical research (Braun,

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Section: Key Tenetsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Practising post‐humanism in geographical research

Williams

Patchett

Lapworth

et al. 2019

Trans Inst British Geog

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“…This part of the article lends insight into work that could be termed experimental geography , because it seeks to unfold what the notion of experiment may have to offer for geographical research practices (see Davies ; Enigbokan and Patchett ; Hawkins ; Last ). It is interesting to notice that many of the aforementioned studies are not simply describing how others experiment but partake in experiments themselves by tracing out the empirical and ethical, theoretical and methodological possibilities that these open for geographers, encouraging them to ‘experiment with the multiple ways in which the world can and is coming to be’ (Greenhough , 50).…”

Section: Experimental Geographiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There have been plenty of inspiring contributions to the social science methods repertoire of late, including work on creative, digital, mobile, participatory and performative research (see Bates ; Davies ; Enigbokan and Patchett ; Hawkins ; Last ). This work indicates that experimentation cannot be reduced to one specific approach or technique but invites a more fundamental revision of the very idea of ‘method’.…”

Section: Experimental Geographiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geographies of Experiment/Experimental Geographies: A Rough Guide

Kullman

2013

Geography Compass

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Geographers have increasingly employed the notion of experiment to describe the explorative styles of researching and thinking that they have elaborated in response to the complexities that characterise the present world. This article discusses the shifting uses of the notion in recent contributions, tracing out the ethical, methodological and theoretical sensibilities that it brings into geography. The article falls into two parts, the first reviewing geographies of experiment—that is, accounts exploring diverse empirical sites of experimentation, from scientific laboratories to performance art and urban spaces. The second part concentrates on experimental geographies which involve attempts by human geographers and other social and cultural researchers to reconsider their practices as experimental. Although the notion of experiment might take on varied functions and meanings, the article indicates that it offers plenty of inspiration for geographical learning and more collaborative and responsive modes of researching and thinking. © 2013 The Author(s). Geography Compass © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd

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“…Finally, objects have been used in contemporary contexts as ways to reach out of the archive and invite people into dialogues with material, museums and memories (on museum geographies, see Geoghegan , and on the geographies of curating, see Miles ). Through her research and website (http://www.archivingthecity.com), artist and researcher Adeola Enigbokan brings together digital video, archival documents, cartography, walking‐tours and objects to explore urban experience and how the city is “built in layers of time” (Enigbokan ; see also Enigbokan and Patchett ). Her work suggests an even further expanded notion of ‘what is the archive’, where this section first began, with Enigbokan interested in the multiple practices of ‘archiving’ rather than the ‘archive’ per se and, in particular, the role of electronic media and digital data.…”

Section: Objectsmentioning

confidence: 99%