Short Abstract:

Based on experiences of the transdisciplinary project “Global Epistemologies and Ontologies” (GEOS), this workshop creates a space for collaborative methodological discussion about synthesizing community-based action research with reflexivity about epistemic and ontological diversity.

Long Abstract:

Socio-environmental conflicts are intertwined with epistemological questions about knowledge diversity and ontological questions about heterogeneous relations between people and environments. While the epistemological and ontological dimensions of socio-environmental conflicts have become widely emphasized in science and technology studies, it often remains unclear how to connect these theoretical debates to local community action. This workshop will share and co-develop methods at the intersection of action-oriented research with local communities and theoretical reflection about epistemological and ontological diversity. Based on the experiences of the “Global Epistemologies and Ontologies” (GEOS) project, it will explore a variety of approaches across heterogenous cases including water management in Minas Gerais (Brazil), plant pathogens in Chiapas (Mexico) and Puglia (Italy), and mangrove conservation in Bahia (Brazil). Using the format of a World Café, the workshop creates an interactive space for exploring the diverse themes and methods that PhDs and postdocs (case holders) of the GEOS project have employed in taking epistemologies and ontologies into action, including more-than-human care, transdisciplinary trust building, ethnobiological analysis, participatory methods, multispecies ethnographies, phenomenological interviews, and ontological policy analysis. We will divide the workshop into smaller groups - led by the case holders - along these methods and frameworks, allowing for interactive sharing of experiences among all participants. In the final stage of the workshop, we will bring the case holders together again to discuss synthesizing perspectives on science and technology studies that is epistemologically and ontologically reflexive while co-producing interventions and participatory action. This workshop is preceded and accompanied by a separately submitted roundtable discussion about the GEOS project and its program of actionable approaches to epistemology and ontology.