Costelloe-KuehnMemo1(revised)


 * topical area? || data sets? || social theoretical questions? (research questions?) || why now? || how prepared? || bias? || fields of work? || funders ||
 * permaculture.

an experimental design system for growing food and building settlements which involves, //inter alia//:

a) each element (plant or animal) is supported by and supports at least three other elements

b) "edible forest gardens" made up primarily of perennials

c) turning obstacles and "problems" with the environment into productive design constraints

"permaculture" (**perm**anent agri**culture**) was coined in Australia in the 1970s, but the practices draw on and synthesizes a wide range of knowledges and technologies. many permaculture techniques and structures of interrelationships mimic those found in "natural" ecologies.

(((speaking very reductively, this topic is more about "science," the second topic about "technology," and the third on both?))) || interviews and participant observation with a) urban community gardening participants, organizers (1,000 in nyc, then many bulldozed?), Capital District Community Gardens, the Farm and Food Project),

b)[|WWOOF] sites (in NY, Italy, India, etc.), Camp Epworth (hosts permaculture design classes) as nodes in a global network of permaculture knowledge production and dissemination.

c) proponents (lecturers, teachers), Ethan Roland of [|Appleseed Permaculture]

d) critics (?)

e) textual analysis of permaculture design manuals and historical research of the formation of "permaculture" as a body of knowledge, international network (even a "social movement?")

f) [|permaculture] [|.org] and founder Scott Pittman || how do non-commodified, non-standardized practices and knowledges outside of industrial production interact with "mainstream" ways of doing and knowing? how do experiences with non-commodified, non-standardized spaces and relationships affect people's worldviews, imaginations and notions of what is "possible?"

what are the poissibilities and limits to "lifestyle" activism and "alternative culture?"

how can experiences with the ecological landscape impact people's views of potential societal relations? (how can insights and strategy from permaculture on cohabitation, networking, etc. provide a foundation for a political philosophy and ethics of collaboration living in the world together?)

how does rhetoric of "self-sufficiency" contest and strengthen neoliberal discourses, policies, practices?

how do transnational networks form around alternative production practices and procedures without the "rallying point" of profit? (how has a "large international following" formed around "permaculture?" presumably: face to face training, publications, shared work in permaculture gardens, and internet forums. similar to disciplinary formation?)

how can "alternative," locally produced knowledge (on a particular farm, garden, site) move transnationally? (do [|WWOOF] and other internet-mediated, work-exchange networks play a large role? what would it take for permaculture to infect the planet and move out of relative obscurity?)

what are the potentials and drawbacks to politics of: a) "confrontation" (i.e. reform movements, attempts to change governmental policies and the practices of corporations); and b) "escape" (i.e. creating alternative institutions, networks, practices, knowledges that "run in parallel," "temporary autonomous zones").

(how do permaculture enthusiasts articulate an alternative to the problems addressed by the "green revolution" and subsequent changes in food production?)

(how can intelligent design and experimentation displace chemical and petroleum inputs?)

(how applicable is permaculture in the world's most money-poor areas?) || the Indian "agrarian crisis" (changes in food production and policies that affect the lives of small farmers in devastating ways) presents complex and extremely pressing challenges.

running out of oil, peak oil.

drawbacks of chemical inputs are increasingly recognized.

global warming (climate change) will change the contexts in which food production takes place and present unpredictable challenges. experimental design may be particularly adept at "rolling with" this tumult. permaculture is good at turning obstacles and constraints into design criteria and advantages

(((the above is about why //doing// permaculture is important, but why is my social scientific study of it important?))) || i have little background knowledge of "rural sociology" and have not read widely or deeply about food production.

i have a rudimentary knowledge of permaculture principles and practices

while critical of the promises of permaculture (and it's commodification) I am passionate about its prospects. it is a good topic with which to learn more about social theoretical formations that i have encountered in many ways in STS: "lay" expertise, formation of a "discipline," incorporation and transformation of alternative pathways, linking material contexts and practices with social networks and ethical stances, etc.

my father has completed the 2 week permaculture design course and i have plenty of contacts. there is also a wealth of permaculture information on the internet.

i love food and being outside and having conversations with people about being outside, and food. || i would have to resist a tendency to be "romantic" about the possibilities of permaculture.

in terms of socioeconomic status, i am extremely lucky and have a fair amount of leisure time (to spend in the garden) and can afford to indulge in "luxury" foods (organic, local, more expensive). my goals in studying this topic slip around. is it promising because it can provide people with a life-enriching alternative to buying food at wal-mart (it is, for me)? or is it the possibilities it harbors for reducing reliance on chemicals and oil (more abstract and invisible in my everyday life, but extremely important in my ethical worldview, largely fostered by my educational background). || rural sociology/anthropology with focus on food production and/or environmental justice and/or globalization

Environmental Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Anthropology at Millsaps College

Environmental Studies with focus on food and agriculture.

The Department of International and Public Affairs in Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) seeks to appoint a social scientist in the field of Environment and Society... "preferred qualifications include experience teaching in a multidisciplinary setting, and demonstrated ability to foster collaboration across social and natural science departments"

STS (expertise, lay and indigenous knowledge...) with focus on environment and social movements

"professional fields?" farmer. joking? permaculture educator? || U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Biological and Environmental Research

Echoing Green Fellowship (but not for academic work).

Fullbright

HASS

IAS-STS (Austria) focus on Environment

Morris K. Udall Environmental Public Policy & Conflict Resolution (might need to write on food production policy in the U.S... only covers final year of dissertation writing).

NSF Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grants

NIH? ||
 * "alternative media" production.


 * or "tactical media" might be a better focusing device for what i'm interested in.**

refers to a wide range of practices including:

a) [|Indymedia] citizen journalist work

b) "old" media: community-based radio, television, print, etc. and "new": blogging, youtube, interactive webspaces, etc.

c) community informatics (CI) projects that use various ICTs to present technoscientific information in more artful, accessible and usable ways. many of these projects are related to health issues. but when framed this way, there is often a stress on quantitative, statistical data collection and my interest in "art" is sometimes left out.

a) environmental justice and/or b) the "global justice movement" (and the building of translations concerning knowledges, actions, and memories) and/or the media reform/justice movement** || interviews, advocacy work, participant-observation with alternative media producers, "mainstream" journalists, policy-makers...
 * i would like to look at alt. media production as it relates to

a) the Sanctuary for Independent Media (Branda on organizing and video, Steve on radio, Andrew on alternative economies)

b) Manhattan Neighborhood Network

c) Suro's projects in India (Ring of Blue, the Catapult Arts Caravan)

d) The Deccan Development Society (DDS)

e) witness.org. documents human rights violations, do an internship in their brooklyn office?

f) culture jammers (i.e. Yes Men) **not so much "the media" or even "alternative media," but "mediagenic" activities and processes**. see [|article] on performative forms of eco-protest

g) Italian "pirate" radio and TV producers (i.e. "Telestreets" - [|video])

h) conference and skill-shares, like [|infoactivism] (will miss 2009 in India, maybe 2010)

i) The [|Prometheus Radio Project] - go to a "radio barnraising"

j) monitor discussions at [|Our Media]/ Nuestros Medios network and attend conference (  July 13-19, 2009, Colombia). k) [|OpenFSM] - a platform for social activism provided by the World Social Forum

l) action reserach and art (i.e. the [|Beehive Collective])

|| how does "resistance" interact with "power?"

how is collective, radical commitment to communal liberatory action "possible" within a theoretical horizon structured by difference? is Marxism a form of domination complicit with modernism?

what are the double-binds presented by the "state" to anarchist-inspired movements or movements for "radical democracy?" (what is the role of anarchist ethics and practices in alternative/progressive media production?)

in what ways do the interactions between nation-states and social movements shape local practices - "local strategies for making sense, making names, making stories" (Traweek, Border Crossings, 446)? (how does the national policy context constrain and enable particular orientations and forms of "alternative" media?)

besides (or in interaction with) the state, what institutions, discourses, formations of expertise, etc. present the most influential double-binds to the newest social movements, and in what ways?

how do "dominant" discourses interact with "counter-" or "parallel" accounts in different media? what are the most effective forms of counter-hegemonic discourse?

How does alternative media production, and community-based initiative more generally, play into and contest neoliberal discourses and practices?

what forces are productive of counter-hegemonic discourses (media reform movement, etc.).

does overcoming the "hegemony of hegemony" open up new possibilities for social change and "radical democracy?"

what are the roles of "media" in social movements? what new strategies and tactics are enabled by the rapid circulation of information, globally?

how can the "politics" of technologies be flipped by their "appropriation" (i.e. hardware meant for consumption flipped to transmit independent media by italian telestreet producers: consumption --> production)

how can excluded groups be included? (how can the process and products of "alternative" media democratize technoscience?)

what is lost, and gained, in "translation" of technoscientific information for "non-experts?"

"what cultural insights can be revealed through observing a culture's aesthetic values?" (Hahn, T., 50) (i.e. "DIY" aesthetics / "punk" philosophy and stance re: commodification, "transparent production" aesthetics vs. "slick" or "flashy" presentation / self-deconstructive authority vs. technological sublime & "shock & awe.")

what are the common threads in "progressive" practices, projects, networks? (the media reform movement (i.e. net neutrality) has brought together both "conservative" and "liberal" groups. "alternative" media production uses "alternative" media to inspire hate. is my focus on "progressives" missing a big part of the picture? see "the blog paper" comparing the "enabling" features between left and right wing blogs)

(how does the promise of new ICTs for progressive networking hold up against its commodification and cooptation?) (what are the possibilities and limits of "new" media (Indymedia networks, Web 2.0, blogs, youtube, facebook, etc.) in contrast to (and in combination with) "old" media forms (radio, cable, print, satellite, film, documentary, etc.)?)

(how do/could alternative media and artistic practices link up with environmental justice causes?) || increasingly consolidated, homogenized media ecology (in the U.S., especially since 1994's FCC legislation).

emerging ICTs harbor new potentials and this landscape needs to be looked at critically.

people watch, on average, something like 6 hours of TV a day! what?! the media is an important Ideological State Apparatus (ISA), using Althusser's term, and it's study can tell us about the workings of power and hegemony.

the "digital divide" scholarship needs to be problematized. the material metaphor is often a one-way bridge and I think a shifting rhizomatic network is better to think with.

"globalization" provides the impetus for story telling (environmental destruction, uneven distributions of benefits and burdens) and the tools for telling stories (cheap video cameras, internet access, etc.) || i have skills in shooting and editing video and sound/music/radio/web content production.

I'm fairly good at writing in different genres.

i have read widely and deeply about "alternative" and "progressive" media and have tried to bridge STS and communication/media studies in various ways. Still, I am a bit unsure if I am the "one for the job," compared to LLC type folks. i think a focus on production (as opposed to audience reception) would better utilize my STS background and align with my interests in "participation," creativity, and alternatives to consumption for fulfillment.

i have good contacts in the U.S. and the beginnings of connections in India and Italy. I speak Italian fairly well and a tiny, tiny bit of Hindi. I also speak some spanish and frensh.

I have done trial ethnographies of community-based groups (the Sanctuary, Cap. District Community Gardens)

I have followed a CI listserv for a few months. || i have a deep resentment towards mainstream media, especially TV, especially children watching TV. their poor young minds warped by power in a box!

I also generally pay more attention to possibilities than constraints.

i am perhaps too easily impressed by "artistic" interventions

i am drawn to anarchist-inspired practices, communities, rhetoric.

it is easier for me to see the value of disruption, unsettling, uprising, resistance, difference. harder to see the value of continuity, duration, shared national identity. || media/communication/art studies with focus on community-based production.

community informatics (as "professional field?")

STS (the particular ICTs, networks, information society, globalization...)

anthropology of media, social movements, globalization, development, India, action research.

"media and public culture... transnationalism, globalization and global issues" (Alaska, Social and Cultural Anthropology)

Loyola cultural anthropology position: "a geographic focus in... South Asia... with topical expertise in globalization and local cultures, media and cultural change"

The College of Staten Island, Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work: Sociologist with expertise in media/technology. "Responsibilities: teaching introductory courses in Anthropology and Sociology, Social Welfare, Quantitative Methods, developing courses in areas of specialization... a strong interdisciplinary focus... emphasizing intersectionality and social justice..." Is this feasible? If I focus on ethnographic methods? Is sociology/anthropology/STS that blurred yet? Or would disciplinary boundaries make it extremely unlikely? I know I could teach an introductory sociology course, but not quantitative methods.

Lots of anthro. jobs seem to have a preference for south asia right now.

"...the Council of Europe recently commissioned scholar Peter Lewis to study the social impact of community media. The European Parliament also recently commissioned a private research firm to study community media policies across EU member states" ([|article]) || Fullbright

HASS

IAS-STS (Austria) focus on ICTs

Kettering Research Position for Doctoral Candidates (need focus on democratic theory and practice... requires residency in Ohio...)

NSF Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grants ||
 * bioart.

a) sometimes defined as artistic practices that use living matter (cells, DNA, proteins, living tissue, etc.) as the material (i.e. Kak's glowing bunny rabbit, Jeremijenko's planting of 1,000 trees with identical DNA in different contexts, etc.

b) or more broadly artistic practices that engage with biology.

c) bioart is sometimes produced in art studios, sometimes in laboratories. often questions what counts as a "lab" and "science." genetic engineering, tissue culture, and cloning are frequent. || a) conferences and papers

b) criticism of art history and criticism

c) interviews with artists and curators (Adam Zaretski, Boryana Rossa, Kathy High, etc.)

d) audience (reception studies)

e) funders of shows || what is the current place of "art" in relation to "power?" what strategies are being used to contest hegemonic constructions?

how do the boundaries (goals, methodology, etc.) between "scientific" and "artistic" production hold up or blur?

what notions of science (biology) are upheld or contested through artistic practices?

what are the effects, constraints, and ways around "preaching to the choir?" this question is applicable to all three topical areas.

how does satire and irony hold up as critical praxis? do people get the joke? how does repeating stereotypes and questionable practices in other contexts both reinforce and challenge them? ("Irony and paradox are the rhetorical strategies heard from the margins of power" (Traweek, Border Crossings, 442).

how can artistic practices help unsettle ethical formations and contribute to new ones? || it was physics, now it's the "age" of biotech.

the artistic imagination might help us ask different questions and point to a new bioethics.

why //not// now? although somewhat hot right now in certain artworlds, it is perhaps too marginal and esoteric in wider contexts? or maybe social theoretical contributions can "travel" well? || i've done a survey of essays on bioart, wrote a term paper on bioart, and talked with many of the bioartists working at rpi.

it feels a bit "hanger-onish" to study bio-art and not produce it myself.

i'm not sure if i'm prepared to study such "high" art for an extended period given my general focus on broad social change. || compared to permaculture and alt. media production, i have a fairly critical eye for bioart. it often seems esoteric and sometimes has the opposite of the desired effect on audiences. i see it as a //pharmakon//.

at the same time, given my particular class, educational background, ability to 'read' bioart, etc. i probably also inflate it's importance. probably 99.999% of the world's population has never heard of bioart. yet, i catch myself, there have certainly been diverse artistic practices using living (or formally living) material for thousands of years all around the world. || art departments.

STS (public understanding of science, science journalism, art/science...)

communications (focus on art and persuasion)

anthropology of art? probably not. || HASS

Probably not Fullbright

NSF Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grants

IAS-STS (Austria) focus on biotechnologies. ||