’Ie liewe is 'n dice game; ’ie dice rol soes hy rol en jy moet ’it ma’ vat, broe’. Jay en Alpha deel ’n wereld van armoede en bendes en het al twee sonder ’n pa grootgeword. Maar hulle paaie skei: Alpha bly die leier van die Lo$Boys, ’n klein bende in Manenberg, terwyl Jay ’n beurs kry om in Kaapstad te gaan studeer. Vir Jay is dit ’n nuwe begin, maar dan word dinge meteens kompleks wanneer sy pad met die van ’n weggooibaba kruis. Kort voor lank is die situasie nie slegs kompleks nie, maar ook gevaarlik. Waarheen gaan ’n student met ’n baba? Die welsyn en polisie vertrou hy nie, maar sy opsies is beperk. Sou hy dit in Manenberg kon waag? Terwyl ’n bendeoorlog dreig?

How can we research the not-as-yet? The Research Event is concerned with enabling and nurturing an empirical and analytic sensibility that can address - that is speculate on - the emergent and the prospective in social life. A distinctive and novel contribution, this book introduces and expands on the notion of the 'research event', equipping the researcher with the speculative means to connect with the changing landscape of social scientific research. As such the research event is understood as a fluid, unfolding process that encompasses a multitude of heterogeneous ingredients, ranging from the formulation of research questions, through the vagaries of participant engagement, to the practices of writing and dissemination. The book aims to provide social science researchers with practical and conceptual heuristics for the 'opening up' of research practice so that it better engages with, but also better provokes, the possibilities that are entailed in the doing of social research. Inventively and entertainingly, the book draws on many of the author's own empirical examples to illustrate critically the use and value of these heuristics. As a research event in itself, this book is a speculation on prospective methodologies and an invitation to explore the possibilities of social research. This book will appeal to a broad range of social science researchers, from advanced undergraduates to established scholars. It will be a key reading in advanced BA and MA courses on alternative research methodologies, or a supplementary reading on more traditional courses aiming to include emerging methods.

The landscape of contemporary research is characterized by growing interdisciplinarity, and disciplinary boundaries are blurring faster than ever. Yet while interdisciplinary methods, and methodological innovation in general, are often presented as the ‘holy grail’ of research, there are few examples or discussions of their development and ‘behaviour’ in the field. This Routledge Handbook of Interdisciplinary Research presents a bold intervention by showcasing a diversity of stimulating approaches. Over 50 experienced researchers illustrate the challenges, but also the rewards of doing and representing interdisciplinary research through their own methodological developments. Featured projects cover a variety of scales and topics, from small art-science collaborations to the ‘big data’ of mass observations. Each section is dedicated to an aspect of data handling, from collection, classification, validation to communication to research audiences. Most importantly, Interdisciplinary Methods presents a distinctive approach through its focus on knowledge as process, defamiliarising and reworking familiar practices such as experimenting, archiving, observing, prototyping or translating.

From food punnets to credit cards, plastic facilitates every part of our daily lives. It has become central to processes of contemporary socio-material living. Universalised and abstracted, it is often treated as the passive object of political deliberations, or a problematic material demanding human management. But in what ways might a 'politics of plastics' deal with both its specific manifestation in particular artefacts and events, and its complex dispersed heterogeneity? Accumulation explores the vitality and complexity of plastic. This interdisciplinary collection focuses on how the presence and recalcitrance of plastic reveals the relational exchanges across human and synthetic materialities. It captures multiplicity by engaging with the processual materialities or plasticity of plastic. Through a series of themed essays on plastic materialities, plastic economies, plastic bodies and new articulations of plastic, the editors and chapter authors examine specific aspects of plastic in action. How are multiple plastic realities enacted? What are their effects? This book will be of interest to students and scholars of sociology, human and cultural geography, environmental studies, consumption studies, science and technology studies, design, and political theory.

From food punnets to credit cards, plastic facilitates every part of our daily lives. It has become central to processes of contemporary socio-material living. Universalised and abstracted, it is often treated as the passive object of political deliberations, or a problematic material demanding human management. But in what ways might a 'politics of plastics' deal with both its specific manifestation in particular artefacts and events, and its complex dispersed heterogeneity? Accumulation explores the vitality and complexity of plastic. This interdisciplinary collection focuses on how the presence and recalcitrance of plastic reveals the relational exchanges across human and synthetic materialities. It captures multiplicity by engaging with the processual materialities or plasticity of plastic. Through a series of themed essays on plastic materialities, plastic economies, plastic bodies and new articulations of plastic, the editors and chapter authors examine specific aspects of plastic in action. How are multiple plastic realities enacted? What are their effects? This book will be of interest to students and scholars of sociology, human and cultural geography, environmental studies, consumption studies, science and technology studies, design, and political theory.

Series Information:
International Library of Sociology

How can we research the not-as-yet? The Research Event is concerned with enabling and nurturing an empirical and analytic sensibility that can address - that is speculate on - the emergent and the prospective in social life. A distinctive and novel contribution, this book introduces and expands on the notion of the 'research event', equipping the researcher with the speculative means to connect with the changing landscape of social scientific research. As such the research event is understood as a fluid, unfolding process that encompasses a multitude of heterogeneous ingredients, ranging from the formulation of research questions, through the vagaries of participant engagement, to the practices of writing and dissemination. The book aims to provide social science researchers with practical and conceptual heuristics for the 'opening up' of research practice so that it better engages with, but also better provokes, the possibilities that are entailed in the doing of social research. Inventively and entertainingly, the book draws on many of the author's own empirical examples to illustrate critically the use and value of these heuristics. As a research event in itself, this book is a speculation on prospective methodologies and an invitation to explore the possibilities of social research. This book will appeal to a broad range of social science researchers, from advanced undergraduates to established scholars. It will be a key reading in advanced BA and MA courses on alternative research methodologies, or a supplementary reading on more traditional courses aiming to include emerging methods.

The Sacrifice provides a uniquely detailed account of the sociological context of animal experimentation. The authors provide a rich analysis of complex and changing role of the laboratory animal in the political and scientific culture of the United States and the United Kingdom. By understanding the interplay of the groups, the authors view the experimental controversy as an ongoing and constantly recreated set of social processes, not just a problem of morality.

The landscape of contemporary research is characterized by growing interdisciplinarity, and disciplinary boundaries are blurring faster than ever. Yet while interdisciplinary methods, and methodological innovation in general, are often presented as the 'holy grail' of research, there are few examples or discussions of their development and 'behaviour' in the field. This Routledge Handbook of Interdisciplinary Research presents a bold intervention by showcasing a diversity of stimulating approaches. Over 50 experienced researchers illustrate the challenges, but also the rewards of doing and representing interdisciplinary research through their own methodological developments. Featured projects cover a variety of scales and topics, from small art-science collaborations to the 'big data' of mass observations. Each section is dedicated to an aspect of data handling, from collection, classification, validation to communication to research audiences. Most importantly, Interdisciplinary Methods presents a distinctive approach through its focus on knowledge as process, defamiliarising and reworking familiar practices such as experimenting, archiving, observing, prototyping or translating.

In this thought-provoking and engaging book, Mike Michael brings us a powerful overview of Actor-Network Theory. Covering a breadth of topics, Michael demonstrates how ANT has become a major theoretical framework, influencing scholarly work across a range of fields. Critical and playful, this book fills a notable gap in the literature as Michael expertly explicates the theory and demonstrates how its key concepts can be applied. Comparing and contrasting ANT with other social scientific perspectives, Michael provides a robust and reflexive account of its analytic and empirical promise. A perfect companion for any student of Science and Technology Studies, Sociology, Geography, Management & Organisation Studies, Media & Communication, and Cultural Studies.

In this thought-provoking and engaging book, Mike Michael brings us a powerful overview of Actor-Network Theory. Covering a breadth of topics, Michael demonstrates how ANT has become a major theoretical framework, influencing scholarly work across a range of fields. Critical and playful, this book fills a notable gap in the literature as Michael expertly explicates the theory and demonstrates how its key concepts can be applied. Comparing and contrasting ANT with other social scientific perspectives, Michael provides a robust and reflexive account of its analytic and empirical promise. A perfect companion for any student of Science and Technology Studies, Sociology, Geography, Management & Organisation Studies, Media & Communication, and Cultural Studies.

This volume provides a distinctive overview and analysis of the place of social constructionism in social psychology. The author's arguments revolve around two key questions: How can social constructionism account for changes in human identities? In what ways might social constructionism accommodate a role for nonhumans - whether technological or natural' - in the constitution of identity?

Michael locates these questions between recent innovations in social psychology and the highly influential contributions of actor-network theory, which has come to dominate the sociology of scientific knowledge.

This volume provides a distinctive overview and analysis of the place of social constructionism in social psychology. The author's arguments revolve around two key questions: How can social constructionism account for changes in human identities? In what ways might social constructionism accommodate a role for nonhumans - whether technological or natural' - in the constitution of identity?

Michael locates these questions between recent innovations in social psychology and the highly influential contributions of actor-network theory, which has come to dominate the sociology of scientific knowledge.