Search Results (23)

Colonization of the “remnants of the natural world” or “last wild spaces” is a process that continues at the present time. This colonization is mainly happening in unprotected spaces outside the global protected area network but is sometimes also attracted by natural resources near or within these “Anthropocene refugia”. Critical perspectives consider that protection measures keeping people far away do not guarantee the saving of wild nature but are another way to colonize it under the neoliberal imperative. This article essays an image composition based on available explicit spatial data from public sources as a representation of human settlement distribution within and around (buffer zone) the Wild Protected Areas System in Southern Chile. From an interpretative perspective beyond the dichotomic framework of pristine wilderness versus anthropogenic pressures, this article explores patterns configurating complex assemblages with diffuse limits which challenge the mainstream conservation model adopted by the State, in which people remain invisible, to think about human activity within protected areas and the unprotected space around them in a different way. In conclusion, the current system of protected areas, by itself, is not sufficient to maintain diversity, while the change processes driven by neoliberal exploitation remain within a framework dominated by political economy. New directions in interdisciplinary research and policy interactions must be explored to develop innovative measures, such as the idea of refugia against the demands of the Anthropocene. Full article

We engage the decolonial option from Abya Yala, el Caribe, and Eastern Europe with an interest in suicide from our struggles as racialized people and our dehumanization, whereby, for many of us, suicide is not an act of autonomy or resistance but the reaffirmation of death as an ongoing state of living. This is the permanent reality of existence concocted by coloniality and its constitutive effect on lived experience. We depart from the assumption that suicide materializes according to someone’s thinking about the world and of a particular philosophy. Thus, predominantly, suicide is the universal name someone’s knowledge has given to an experience; and whose experience is named as such is consequently universally configured as a suicidal being. Here, we discuss suicide from understandings that come from non-discursive domains, and from a different genealogy than western Europe’s; the coloniality of the senses, time and being. We attempt to story what violence does in relation to an already violent circumstance, suicide, therapists and hotline workers, and undocumented lives in the U.S., when singularly imposing one way of the world. We are interested in adding visibility to the legacy of erasure and violence that the epistemologies and ontologies of suicide, suicide assessments, and therapists’ clinical judgements perpetuate; further sustaining dehumanization and the imposition of death as a constant in life. We discuss a crisis suicide call as the lay of the land of modernity’s suicide assessments, constructed as an assemblage from our shared memories on many stories we have heard in our work. We annotate it as it unfolds, reflecting upon our expected practices in institutionalized settings, under the control of modernity/coloniality that discriminates against pluriversal temporalities, sensings, and relationalities. Full article

A conceptualisation of the COVID-19 pandemic through the analytic lens of a ‘necropolitics as evil’ brings to the fore Hannah Arendt’s theorisation that evil is both an expression of, and a threat to, humanity and its plurality as an intersectional assemblage, and by extension as freedom in political action. Arendt accepts that while evil—as an expression of our humanity—can never be eradicated, it must—as a threat to our common humanity—be confronted. From this perspective, the functioning of race, gender, and wider structural inequalities as operational hinges of COVID-19 capitalism required spaces for resistance and change within the political economy of global inequalities during the recent pandemic. This (concept) paper explores such a conceptualisation through stories of the pandemic and with a particular focus on Indigenous people, marginalised groups such as migrants and asylum seekers, as well as the homeless. It is through the viral logics of cytopathic COVID-19 capitalisms that we confront and resist theoretical pathologies by re-theorising evil as conceptual currency to confront this conjuncture, critique limitations, and meaningfully translate the current societal landscape through this lens. This allows for engaging in a particular kind of reading of Arendt that is contextualised in terms of the stakes of the paper: the importance of thinking about convivialising solidarities in the ongoing pandemic that has been perpetuated by ‘evil political formations/evil governance’ under capitalism, and as such, the structural pathologies that exacerbate COVID-19’s deathly effects. Full article

This article examines the work of multidisciplinary artist José Villalobos through a queer Latinx lens using the theory of “disidentification” as put forth by José Esteban Muñoz and argues that Villalobos makes space for queer visibility and representation within Tejano norteño culture by subverting culturally specific objects that often perpetuate, sometimes violently, traditional Mexican and Mexican-American gender norms. By critically analyzing two artworks, Soledad (loneliness) (2022), a mixed-media triptych that takes the form of an ex-voto, and a performance, A Las Escondidas (Hide-and-Seek) (2019), this study demonstrates how Villalobos challenges gender-normative thinking in border culture through his artworks by incorporating the body and its adornments. Villalobos utilizes his body in his performances and the implied body in his installations and assemblages to critique and subvert homophobia. By doing so, he grafts queer identity onto norteño iconography to carve out space for representation and inclusion for himself and other members of the queer community. Full article

Centimeter-scale magmatic enclaves are abundant in peralkaline felsic volcanic rocks in the Sanshui Basin. Their lithology is mainly syenite and syenitic porphyry, and they mainly comprise alkali feldspar and amphibole, which is similar to the mineral assemblage of the host trachyte and comendite. The SiO₂ content in the syenitic enclaves is ~63 wt%, which is similar to that of the host trachyte but lower than that of the comendite. Thermobarometric calculations showed that the syenitic enclaves crystallized at similar temperature and pressure conditions as their host trachyte. The results of mass-balance modeling and MCS modeling indicate that the syenitic enclaves likely experienced an approximately 74% fractional crystallization from the basaltic parental magma. Combined with the similar mineral assemblages and geochemical characteristics of the host trachyte, we think that the enclaves resulted from the in situ crystallization of trachytic magma in the shallow crust and that they had a cogenetic origin with their host volcanic rocks, which means that they were likely to derived from the identical magma chamber which was formed from different batches of magma mixing/mingling. The recharge and mixing of basaltic magma triggered the eruption of trachytic magma eruption. The syenitic crust may have been disaggregated by the ascending trachytic magma and brought to the surface as syenitic enclaves. The syenitic enclaves in volcanic rocks provide unique information on the magmatism of the shallow crust as evidence of magma mixing/mingling. Full article

This paper seeks to explore some of the issues to be welcomed but also warned against in general and’ also specified from an illustrative sample of ‘smart’ projects that caused outcomes that were neither ‘smart’ nor ‘resilient’. These give pointers to a ‘thirdspace’ as a descriptor of ‘assemblage’, the most advanced application of sustainability thinking regarding relational spatial development planning. This contribution examines difficulties in delivering both ‘smart’ and ‘resilient’ responses of interest or value to citizens confronted with recurring crises that derive directly or with implications for sustainability issues. Identified are constraints and issues acting as obstacles to governance, management ‘layering’ and ‘learning’ causing failures of many weak or never-delivered projects. Critiques of static, or worse ‘magical’ thinking are increasingly invoked in consequence. In the analysis of ‘live cases’ all these problems showed up ‘in real life’. The author was pleased that his mentor, the late UCLA planning theorist Ed Soja’s application of the idea of ‘Thirdspace’ received prescient vindication from the results of this adjudication. Full article

In this article, we reflect on the functions of outreach in developing the modern scientific mind, and discuss its essential importance in the modern society of rapid technological development. We embed our approach to outreach in culturo-scientific thinking. This is constituted by embracing disciplinary thinking (in particular creativity) whilst appreciating the epistemology of science as an evolving dialogue of ideas, with numerous alternative perspectives and uncertain futures to be managed. Structuring scientific knowledge as an assemblage of interacting and evolving discipline-cultures, we conceive of a culturo-scientific storytelling to bring about positive transformations for the public in these thinking skills and ground our approach in quantum science and technologies (QST). This field has the potential to generate significant changes for the life of every citizen, and so a skills-oriented approach to its education, both formal and non-formal, is essential. Finally, we present examples of such storytelling in the case of QST, the classification and evaluation of which correspond to future work in which this narrative approach is studied in action. Full article

This paper follows the urban development process of the Eco Delta City (EDC) in South Korea, a new waterfront development demonstrating the concept of a smart city. The investigation focuses on the mobilisation process under the framework of assemblage thinking: the way in which the smart city concept was applied to the project and the relational moments that delayed and stopped the process. This qualitative research with the case study and ethnographical tradition of analysis was conducted with data from diverse archival sources and interviews. By dissecting the network of EDC development, the analysis finds that the smart city mobilisation emerged from the complex actor-relations rather than from the top-down policy, and the initially brought smartness framed by the government was not accepted intactly but was contested, affiliated and compounded by the actor-relations. This study also verifies that the assemblage approach is a suitable tool in managing and evaluating policy mobilisation because it is affected by the local context and actor-relations rather than just imitation and direct application. Full article

In recent years, a vast body of research has investigated trends of declining alcohol consumption among youths. However, the extent to which restrictive-youth approaches towards drinking are maintained into adulthood is unclear. The aim of this study is to explore how young people’s relation to alcohol changes over time. Our data are based on longitudinal qualitative in-depth interviews with 28 participants aged 15 to 23 conducted over the course of three years (2017–2019). The study draws on assemblage thinking by analysing to what kinds of heterogeneous elements young people’s drinking and abstinence are related and what kinds of transformations they undergo when they get older. Five trajectories were identified as influential. Alcohol was transformed from unsafe to safe assemblages, from illegal to legal drinking assemblages, from performance-orientated to enjoyment-orientated assemblages, and from immature to mature assemblages. These trajectories moved alcohol consumption towards moderate drinking. Moreover, abstinence was transformed from authoritarian assemblages into self-reflexive assemblages. Self-control, responsibility, and performance orientation were important mediators in all five trajectories. As the sober generation grows older, they will likely start to drink at more moderate levels than previous generations. Full article

Food is connected to sustainable development goals in numerous ways, as food security is key to achieving sustainable development. The world is currently not on track to achieve the set sustainable development goals (SDGs). In Nigeria, flooding is a recurrent disaster and constitutes a setback to success with the SDGs and sustainable development. Flooding disasters are a threat to food security due to their impact on the food system. This study is an integrative review that explores the link between Nigeria’s flooding, food security, and the SDGs. It adopts an assemblage and systems thinking approach to analyze the impact of flooding on all components of food security. It finds that, despite the impact of flooding on food security, it is not recognized as a threat by policymakers, as evidenced by the lack of mention of disasters in the current Nigeria Agriculture Promotion Policy (APP). Attention is drawn to this oversight in this work by highlighting the interconnections between flooding, food security, and sustainable development. Recommendations on flood mitigation and adaptive practices that can alleviate the negative impact of flooding on food security to enhance the success rate of the SDGs are proffered. This work contributes to the literature by showcasing the impact of flooding on food security and its connection to sustainable development, which is an area that has not received adequate attention in research. The assemblage and system thinking approach adopted brings novelty and allows for a succinct understanding of how flooding impacts all four aspects of food security. This paper serves as the first time the problem has been explored in this manner. Full article

Technology has been holding out the promise of facilitating greater autonomy and improving care for people in a situation of dependency. This trend is expected to grow and this is happening precisely at a time of expansion of the so-called Independent Living paradigm. In this context, however, disability activists are generally suspicious of approaches based on being “left” in the hands of technology. They instead advocate for “subordinating hands” to their ability to decide, a principle that stands in tension with the field of intellectual disability, where individuals are perceived as intrinsically unable to make “good decisions”. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to provide insight into the uses and developments of technologies with regard to care and autonomy for people with intellectual disabilities. By ethnographically examining the case of a specific technology; QR (quick response) codes in the context of an independent living service, and in the framework of Science and Technology Studies and Disability Studies, the paper reveals the role and possibilities of care and autonomy technologies for people with intellectual disabilities. Based on these findings, and by thinking from what we could define as “within a sociotechnical assemblage”, this paper aims to rethink the ways in which technologies for independent living can be used in the field. Full article

Grounded in the study of urban morphology, this position paper seeks to overcome the analysis of the permanent elements of a city in the search for a transitional paradigm in urban morphology, with the aim of grasping the dynamics of urban evolution and providing operative tools for the design of urban regeneration through an adaptive approach. Four actions for urban analysis are suggested here to highlight urban dynamics through the use of different tools: (a) sorting the transitional steps of urban morphologies (within rapid market processes), (b) underlining rules and processes that characterize urban coding in transitions, (c) mapping urban assemblages in an adaptive city, and (d) reading and representing the phenomenon of urban permutation. The results of this multifaceted and multidimensional set of analytical tools make it possible to outline a new paradigm for design thinking that moves towards a parametric approach to the urban design of cities in transition by broadening the extent of the urban regeneration process and supporting urban policies in the framework of a community-based approach. Full article

Plants and animals are both important for studies in evolutionary developmental biology (EvoDevo). Plant morphology as a valuable discipline of EvoDevo is set for a paradigm shift. Process thinking and the continuum approach in plant morphology allow us to perceive and interpret growing plants as combinations of developmental processes rather than as assemblages of structural units (“organs”) such as roots, stems, leaves, and flowers. These dynamic philosophical perspectives were already favored by botanists and philosophers such as Agnes Arber (1879–1960) and Rolf Sattler (*1936). The acceptance of growing plants as dynamic continua inspires EvoDevo scientists such as developmental geneticists and evolutionary biologists to move towards a more holistic understanding of plants in time and space. This review will appeal to many young scientists in the plant development research fields. It covers a wide range of relevant publications from the past to present. Full article

What constitutes ‘relevant’ and ‘apt’ Islamic knowledge and expert education of future Islamic authorities in Western Europe? This central point of departure of this Special Issue is a burdened question in the current public and political debate in Western Europe. In the last decades, higher education on Islam in Europe has predominantly taken place in two domains: in the publicly funded university context as Islamic Studies, and in the privately funded context of mosques, madrasa’s and teaching institutes, often with strong links to Muslim countries of origin. In recent years, however, different answers have been formulated to this question; alternative initiatives have been taken—or are in the making—to train Islamic experts who are preparing for professional and academic careers in Europe. Publicly funded universities have started to organize imam training or Islamic theology programs, notably in Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands and the Scandinavian countries. Furthermore, private confessional Muslim institutes are now recruiting lecturers who also graduated from Western Islamic Studies university programs. This Special Issue focuses both theoretically and empirically on these new aspirations, initiatives, debates and practices of those various actors who navigate between and beyond. To understand these developments, we need a theoretical framework that is able to deconstruct the power related epistemological narratives constituting these dichotomies. Therefore, we will use this introductory editorial article to elaborate on how these spaces/places of departure are not absolute or analytically stable, but per definition uncertain, blurry and constantly ‘in the making’, constituted by what David Scott has called ‘a problem-space’. Moreover, in addition to thinking only in terms of ‘interstices’ in order to overcome these dichotomies by way of ‘bonding or bridging’, but which often seems to presume an essential character to both ends, we suggest to consider these alternative initiatives in terms of ‘assemblages’. Full article

Drawing on a relational ontology and scholarship of new literacies, we investigate the materiality and performativity of children’s augmented storying in nature. Our study is situated in a Finnish primary school in which a novel, augmented reality application (MyAR Julle) was utilized as a digital storytelling tool for children (n = 62, aged 7–9), allowing them to explore, interact, and imagine in nature and to create/share their stories. The data corpus consists of their narrations of their augmented stories in nature, their augmented story artefacts, and video/observational data from their construction of such stories in nature. Narrative analysis reveals how the children’s augmented storying in nature was performed through playful, affective, and sensuous, identity, cultural, and critical literacies, which were imaginatively constructed into being at the nexus of their sensed reality and fantasy. These literacies make visible human–material–spatial–temporal assemblages during which the children played with/through the augmented character Julle, felt and sensed with/through Julle, and re-storied their experiences, cultural knowledge, and identities with/through Julle. They also engaged in critical thinking with/through Julle. The study contributes to knowledge on the meaning of materiality in children’s storying in, with, and for nature and the educational possibilities of augmented storying for children’s (eco)literacies. Full article