On methodologies

Research as ‘spaces of encounter’ which otherwise wouldn't be

The study adopts a prefigurative methodological strategy, inspired by Haiven and Khasnabish’s (2010) approach on studying the radical imagination. Essentially, rather than trying to simply understand radical imagination, research is seen as a space in which encounters which otherwise wouldn’t be are made possible, and in which radical imagination is fostered.

Within these spaces of encounter the aim is to facilitate dialogues; to generate hypotheses and to then shatter them; to think across localities and within them; to entangle theories and practices; to foster radical imaginations and to understand them by doing that. Rather than distinct processes of data collection and analysis, the aim is to foster an active and explicit co-production of knowledge on radical imagination.

The methodological strategy is composed of three sub-phases, or spaces of encounter: [A] Confronting Radical Imagination, a series of conversations on the radical imagination with spatial practitioners from around the globe; [B] Cross Encounters, a symposium facilitating encounters across practices, contexts, and ideas, and [C] Grounding Radical Imagination, with field visits situating knowledge in specific localities. (*This final sub-phase has been removed from the core methodology of this study and is envisioned as a first post-PhD project.)

These sub-phases are envisioned as loops which support the study’s co-productive approach, each containing a) data collection, b) entries to the Open Diary, c) preliminary data analysis, d) the creation of material agents as outputs, and e) an opportunity for scrutiny and feedback facilitated by this platform in which the material agents are frequently uploaded. 

Essentially, the outputs of each loop, in the form of material agents, provide the material and theoretical setting for the upcoming sub-phase. Their nature is varied and will be decided according to the types of data collected and approaches of analysis. They will be published on this online platform during their production, open to feedback from participants.