Reflection as assembled practice

Authors

  • Jörg Niewöhner Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Keywords:

Critique, Ethnography, studying up, material-semiotic practice

Abstract

Ethnographic research is reflexive, both with regard to one's own research practice and to one's own person in a societal context. How exactly this is the case is rarely discussed. Implicitly, this reflexivity is often understood as an individual's mental attitude and critical capacity. Ever since the fully reflexive research subject has become the norm in European Ethnology, this understanding of reflexivity needs updating. I propose here to understand reflexivity as a assembled practice and thus make it available for empirical research. Reflexivity as a assembled practice decentres, firstly, reflexivity as a mental process and instead establishes reflection as a concrete material-semiotic practice. Secondly, this perspective decentres the individual epistemic subject in favour of reflection as a co-laborative practice. Third, this approach advocates open-ended reflection as an end in itself rather than placing it at the service of a specific form of critique.

Author Biography

Jörg Niewöhner, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Jörg Niewöhner forscht und lehrt am Institut für Europäische Ethnologie der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Er beschäftigt sich in seiner ethnografischen Forschung mit den Veränderungen von Mensch-Umwelt Beziehungen vor allem in den Kontexten globaler Klima- und Umweltwandel und psychische Gesundheit in Städten. Seit 2018 leitet er außerdem das integrative Forschungsinistitut THESys: Transformations of Human-Environment Systems an der HU Berlin.

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Published

2021-02-01

How to Cite

Niewöhner, J. (2021). Reflection as assembled practice. Berliner Blätter, 83, 107–116. Retrieved from https://berliner-blaetter.de/index.php/blaetter/article/view/1103

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