Smoothing, Striating and Territorialising: The assembling of ‘science in the making’

Aroles, J.; McLean, C.

doi:10.1177/1466138119856570

Smoothing, Striating and Territorialising: The assembling of ‘science in the making’

Aroles, J.; McLean, C.

Authors

J. Aroles

C. McLean

Abstract

Drawing on a rich two-year ethnographic study that followed evolutionary biologists in their everyday work, this paper explores the making of scientific knowledge through the spatial conceptual imagery developed by Deleuze and Guattari. In particular, this paper focuses on a field expedition to the South Pacific and investigates how different rhythms, forces and intensities are harmonized and assembled in the production of scientific knowledge. Within this setting, maintaining a balance between striating and smoothing forces is an important yet difficult task. On many occasions, alternative rhythms and ‘tropical forces’ jeopardized the success of the expedition, despite the scientists’ best efforts to formalize the research process and bring the striations of the laboratory into the forest. Paradoxically, these challenges also played a key role in the inquiry as they opened new possibilities and ultimately led to more intense engagements with the tropical forest and its rhythms and spatiality.

Citation

Aroles, J., & McLean, C. (2019). Smoothing, Striating and Territorialising: The assembling of ‘science in the making’. Ethnography, 22(1), 111-130. https://doi.org/10.1177/1466138119856570

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	May 17, 2019
Online Publication Date	Jun 17, 2019
Publication Date	Jun 17, 2019
Deposit Date	Jul 8, 2019
Publicly Available Date	Jul 9, 2019
Journal	Ethnography
Print ISSN	1466-1381
Electronic ISSN	1741-2714
Publisher	SAGE Publications
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	22
Issue	1
Pages	111-130
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1177/1466138119856570
Public URL	https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1327391

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Copyright Statement
Aroles, J. & McLean, C. (2019). Smoothing, Striating and Territorialising: The assembling of ‘science in the making’. Ethnography (Volume 22, issue 1) pp. 111-130. Copyright © 2019 Sage. DOI: 10.1177/1466138119856570