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Short abstract:

This paper explores the camper van as an inventive method in studying DIY maker communities in Northeastern Germany. The van serves as both an ethnographic tool, providing access to diverse sites and communities, and an epistemic thing, facilitating mobility and shaping research perspectives.

Long abstract:

In response to calls for transformative knowledge-making practices in Science and Technology Studies (STS) and ethnographic research, this paper examines the camper van as both an ethnographic tool and an epistemic thing within the study of DIY maker cultures. Based on a four-year field study of DIY maker communities in Northeastern Germany, the paper demonstrates how the author's van became an inventive method (Lury/Wakeford 2012) that turned the very invention of its problem into a method.

The narrative unfolds in three distinct yet interconnected sections. Firstly, the author discusses her van as ethnographic tool (Jungnickel 2014), that becomes a physical manifestation of the researcher's engagement with the field, embodying the researcher's presence and facilitating interactions with participants. Secondly, the paper explores the van's significance in transcending traditional academic dichotomies. It elucidates how the van served as an epistemic thing (Rheinberger 1997), shaping her understanding of the field and emphasizing the importance of embodied engagement in knowledge production. Thirdly, the paper conceptualizes the van as an immutable mobile (Latour 2017) transporting not only physical materials but also knowledge across geographical and disciplinary boundaries. Its mobility allows the researcher to navigate between different locations and contexts, shaping their research agenda and insights.

The paper offers a nuanced exploration of the van's multifaceted role in shaping the author's research journey. By foregrounding the materiality of their research practice, the paper contributes to broader discussions within knowledge production and ethnographic methods.