Paper short abstract:

Starting from an ethnographic analysis of the practices of engineers and biologists who study fish swimming performances in order to preserve their life in human-altered rivers, we aim to explore ways to work with fish as our epistemic companions and better attune ourselves to their worlds.

Paper long abstract:

Our proposal stems from joint reflections that emerged within the framework of a research project in which we are involved, titled “Dialoguing Species - Designing Common Worlds through Ethnography”.

The first phase of the project sees us both engaged in an ethnographic analysis of the practices of engineers and biologists at the Politecnico di Torino who study fish swimming performances through the use of particular devices. Their research work is aimed to collect data that will presumably enable other engineers to design and construct more effective fish passes and ladders, in order to mitigate the disturbance created in the fluvial habitat by human built barriers.

Embracing a multispecies perspective, we are interested in exploring: i) what ways of knowing fish these scholars articulate through their practices and techno-scientific devices; ii) how fish respond or resist to such ways of questioning and knowing them.

Particularly, some crucial questions for us are the following: how can we learn from these scholars to interrogate fish while keeping a critical gaze on their ways of knowing? For instance, initial interviews showed how they label the attitude of some groups of fish that appear to be uncooperative as “weird behaviour”. For that, these groups are discarded. What can we actually learn from the resistance of these fish? What if fish were epistemic companions in our research? How can we help to develop new methods and devices for interrogating fish that may also be relevant to them (Despret 2016)?