Overview
We explore the scientific work of constructing populations in four cases that involve societal and political urgency concerning reproduction in liquid surroundings. Each subproject asks: How is the concept of population constructed and deployed in situated scientific research and the managing of reproductive life? What kinds of rationales of inclusion and exclusion are enacted in the scientific construction of populations? What kinds of technologies are developed and applied to know and manage different populations? How are scientific population management practices enrolled in the pursuit of societal responses to inequality, climate crisis, and biodiversity loss?
Methods and materials
We use qualitative social and design research methods to generate data that consists of published text materials, ethnographic field work data, and visual mappings of populations created with study participants. In its analytical approach, the project focuses on how scientific practices shape the logics of inclusion and exclusion and technological management of reproductive life. Participatory design workshops are conducted with study participants to enable broader analysis of knowledge-based management of life. The workshops serve as a practice-based approach to speculate on and map situated futures across knowledge cultures.
Aims
POPULUS aims to develop an approach that can be applied to different kinds of combinations and comparisons of knowing and governing life grouped into populations. To achieve this, we experiment methodologically on comparative multispecies research. Overall, the project aims to provide new knowledge on situated Anthropocene realities and generate societal impact by co-creating critical visions of shared eco-social futures.