Using ethnography and assemblage theory in political geography

Abstract

While the focus on the 'everyday' in qualitative human geography has greatly increased the need for, and relevance of, ethnographic methods, Megoran argued that this is particularly true for political geography as it has the potential

Progress in simulating human geography: Assemblage theory and the practice of multi-agent artificial intelligence modeling

“…Human geographers regularly analyze the moral assumptions and implications of the application of assemblage theory within the field (e.g., Burrai et al, 2017; Kinkaid, 2019; Pow, 2014; Rankin, 2008). While some highlight the promise of assemblage thinking for “analyzing and intervening in the emergent politics of socio-material-affective assemblages” (Ghoddousi and Page, 2020, p. 22), others worry that overly simplistic investment in “assemblage-as-ethos” can all too easily have politically regressive effects (Kinkaid, 2020b, p. 481). Given the relevance of the theoretical and empirical efforts of human geographers and the practical concerns of politicians and public policy professionals, it is no surprise that the appropriation of assemblage theory in the former has fueled debates about its potential impact on the latter.…”

More than a solo method: Netnography’s capacity to enhance offline research methods

“…On the one extreme, netnographers may merely be "present" and "hang out" in online communities (Jeffrey et al, 2021). On the other extreme, netnographers may conduct participatory action research (PAR) and work with members of online communities to help them, for example, to initiate social change for their own purpose (Ghoddousi & Page, 2020). Thus, passive/lurking and active/participatory approaches to netnography are not binaries; there is instead a continuum between the two approaches.…”

“…For instance, Miller and Slater argued that "we need to treat Internet media as continuous with and embedded in other social spaces" (2000, p. 5). Accordingly, a number of studies have combined netnography with a range of offline research methods, including surveys, interviews, and participant and non-participant observations (Burrell, 2009;Ghoddousi & Page, 2020;Miller & Slater, 2000;Mkono & Markwell, 2014;Xun & Reynolds, 2010). This multi-method approach helps researchers confirm the accuracy of data collected through netnography and obtain complementary, contextual data as well.…”

A constructivism of desire: Conceptualising the politics of assemblage with Deleuze and Guattari

“…Writing about assemblage thinking is a challenging task, not least because of the sheer breadth of applications that have hitherto been explored by geographers in relation to various sub‐disciplinary concerns. To give a cursory sense of this breadth, assemblage has been used by geographers to broaden understandings of agency within debates about critical urbanism (McFarlane, 2011); to analyse the ontological production of race beyond linguistic structures (Saldanha, 2006); to grapple with the ecological entanglements of humans, animals, and plants (Gibbs et al, 2015); and to reorientate qualitative inquiry in ways that decentre the human subject within geographical research (Ghoddousi & Page, 2020). These examples, while far from exhaustive, embody the “radically constructionist” nature of assemblage thinking (Anderson & Harrison, 2010; Simpson, 2020), where the construction of social and cultural life is no longer anchored to processes of human meaning‐making but instead takes place across an ontologically heterogeneous collection of material elements.…”