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Paper short abstract:

Based on the Sino-Swedish Expedition (1927-35) reports, this talk will challenge review processes in the geosciences. Merging data from the Gobi Desert with science history allows me to better describe how methodology, procedures, and collegiality have framed debates on past climate and societies.

Paper long abstract:

ABSTRACT:

Based largely on the reports of the Sino-Swedish Expedition, "Collegiality in the Production of Knowledge: Collecting Data on Climate Change in Inner Mongolia, 1927-35" will challenge established ideas on methodology and reviews processes in science. I will introduce an environmental humanities approach to knowledge production and will question the resilience of unexpected data and innovative practices. Bringing back to life an expedition that documented climate change one century ago, and merging its data with the history of a discipline allow us to reflect on the roles that methodology, procedures, inclusion, diversity, periphery, and collegiality have played in shaping our comprehension of past civilizations and their environment. Located at the intersection of climate research and research on methodology, this project on a lost river and a vanishing lake in the Gobi Desert is part of a global movement that decolonizes knowledge and promotes reflections on positionalities and disciplinary practices.

KEYWORDS:

Cartography, Central Asia (Gobi Desert), climate change, climate reconstruction, environmental humanities, fieldwork practices, history of geography (1920-1940), knowledge production, research methods, Scientific Expedition to the North-western Provinces of China.