Stedssensitive interviews

The purpose of the article is to rethink interviews methods through an attention to where the interview takes place and through this develop interview method that nuance sensory aspects of practices. Through Michel de Certeau’s anthropological understanding of everyday practices, a place-sensitive perspective, inspired by place phenomenologist Edwards Casey and anthropologist Sarah Pink's concept of emplacement, the article reflects and explore what these concepts make us achieve when it comes to constructing a deeper understanding for practices. The article analyzes empirical material of an interview situation and argues that sensory aspects of practice can be generated through a place-sensitive interview. The author points at a tendency within interview methodology where the place of the interview often is understood and treated as tabula rasa and reduced to considerations of convenience and comfort. This tendency reveals an insufficient methodological recognition of the significance of place for interview knowledge constructions. Based on an empirical material generated in an ethnographic field work, the article nuances how researchers can activate his body and senses in interview contexts, create concrete grasp of place and at the same time ask practice specific questions in situ. The article aims towards professionals who work with interviews as methodological approach and the author of the article calls for place to be the subject of reflection, on equal level with interview dimensions such as questions and ethics

At jamme med byens rytmer – selvorganiserede forhandlinger af tid og rum

Focusing on the city, this article examines the relation between the specific (body and place) and more abstract (time and space), in order to understand how people negotiate the affordances of materiality, space and time. Based on a two year anthropological multi-sited fieldwork, 38 people have shown and told me how they organize themselves in the city through music and dance. Focusing on the phenomenon self-organization as a special form of participation, the main argument of the article stresses that people create their own use of the city by exploring and sensing the social spaces and rhythms of the city. They improvise in their use of places that are not framed institutionally or pre-established in advance. In order to understand how people transform the city into a space for self-organization, the analytical framework of the article is the French neomarxist and urban philosopher Henri Lefebvre's rhythmanalysis. The rhythmanalysis enables us analyze the dialectical relationship between the body and the city. The first part of the article analyzes three spatial elements of the self-organized practice: How spaces become exciting, the framing of a space through sound and light and the embodied exploration of space. Secondly, the article combines observations from a jam session with Lefebvre's rhythmanalysis and specifies the main argument of the article: self-organization is a practice of improvisation and is conceptualized as a way of “jamming with urban rhythms.

Sociabilidades efímeras: la navegación social entre los jóvenes daneses

Aquest article analitza les maneres de reunir-se dels joves a les ciutats daneses d’Aarhus i Horsens, tenint en compte les complexitats espacials, temporals i socials de l’espai urbà. Suggerim el terme de «sociabilitats urbanes efímeres» per entendre com es construeix un estar junts alternatiu, fora de marcs institucionals o socials formals. Basant-nos en el treball de camp antropològic d’Anne-Lene Sand, ens centrem en un context en què el desenvolupament de l’espai urbà sembla haver disminuït les oportunitats perquè els joves definisquen i creen espais per a si mateixos. Aquest article se centra en les formes de reunir-se en un context que a primera vista sembla altament regulat i planejat, però que des d’una altra perspectiva és incert (Highmore, 2005; Lefebvre, 1994) i està obert a la reinterpretació lúdica (Stevens, 2007) . El material es discuteix a través del concepte de «navegació social» de l’antropòleg danés Henrik Vigh (2006, 2009), per entendre les formacions socials mòbils i canviants dels joves en el context urbà. Busquem contribuir al coneixement sobre les sociabilitats juvenils urbanes modernes que no poden ser descrites com grupals o territorials, però que en canvi es construeixen a través del desig de trobar-se amb persones afins.This article analyses how young people get together in the spatial, temporal and social complexity of urban space. We suggest the term ephemeral urban socialities to understand how young people construct alternative socialities that are not embedded within an institutional mode of thinking or a formalised social setting. Based on anthropological fieldwork and empirical material generated in the Danish cities of Aarhus and Horsens by Anne-Lene Sand, we frame the analysis in a context where the development of urban space minimises social places that young people can define by and for themselves. This article investigates how young people come together socially in a context that seems to be highly regulated and planned, but that from another perspective is uncertain (Highmore, 2005; Lefebvre, 1994) and open to ludic interpretation (Stevens, 2007). The material is discussed through the lens of the Danish anthropologist Henrik Vigh’s concept of social navigation (2006, 2009) to understand young people’s mobile and changing social formations in the urban context. This article contributes knowledge about modern urban socialities in medium-sized northern European cities that, in the case of youth formations, cannot be described as groups or as territorial, but that are constructed through the desire to meet with “like-minded individuals”.Este artículo analiza las maneras de reunirse de los jóvenes en lasB ciudades danesas de Aarhus y Horsens, teniendo en cuenta las complejidades espaciales, temporales y sociales del espacio urbano. Sugerimos el término de «sociabilidades urbanas efímeras» para entender cómo se construye un estar juntos alternativo, fuera de marcos institucionales o sociales formales. Basándonos en el trabajo de campo antropológico de Anne-Lene Sand, nos centramos en un contexto en el que el desarrollo del espacio urbano parece haber disminuido las oportunidades para que los jóvenes definan y creen espacios para sí mismos. Este artículo se centra en las formas de reunirse en un contexto que a simple vista parece altamente regulado y planeado, pero que desde otra perspectiva es incierto (Highmore, 2005; Lefebvre, 1994) y está abierto a la reinterpretación lúdica (Stevens, 2007). El material se discute a través del concepto de «navegación social» del antropólogo danés Henrik Vigh (2006, 2009), para entender las formaciones sociales móviles y cambiantes de los jóvenes en el contexto urbano. Buscamos contribuir al conocimiento sobre las sociabilidades juveniles urbanas modernas que no pueden ser descritas como grupales o territoriales, pero que en cambio se construyen a través del deseo de encontrarse con personas afines

Improvisation and Planning: Engaging With Unforeseen Encounters in Urban Public Space

Despite the significant emphasis in Scandinavian cities on vital urban spaces and creative unfolding in urban development, there is a tendency towards designing for “finished” urban spaces with a pre-defined conclusion. The result is often standardised design and staged play, ignoring the diversity of lived experiences taking place in the here and now. How can urban spaces be generated to accommodate unforeseen encounters fostering moments of intensity, affect, and disorder? In this article, we explore the potential of improvisation in urban spaces by examining how urban public spaces facilitate improvisation in interactions between places, senses, materials, and participants. Improvisation is understood as a productive force in urban development that gives space to what occurs in urban encounters. The article draws on Richard Sennett’s concept of “disorder” and Jennifer Mason’s concept of “affinity.” By using design experiments and sensory and visual methods inspired by ethnographic methodology the article analyses two improvisational practices occurring in public spaces in Norway and Denmark, which emphasise the performative, affective, and sensory elements of urban life. The analysis brings forth a discussion of how improvisation unfolds in multimodal urban encounters, between order and disorder, and sensory and emotional connections. The authors argue for a more place-sensitive form of city-making and more improvisatorial urban designs that stimulate varied, spontaneous, and changeable use

Editorial introduction to Designing for Play as Cultural Production in Childhood:Seeking new grounds

In 2021 the BIN network (Børneforskere i Norden - [Children’s Culture Researchers in the Nordic Countries]) invited researchers from all over the world to meet in order to explore potential relationships and bridges between two research areas, childhood studies and design, that share an interest in play as a topic of research.The conference invited both practitioners and scholars to participate to empower and enrich a landscape for conversation and development in order for the areas to inspire each other. Over 400 people from all over the world participated in sessions during the two-day conference.Based on the conference, we invited authors to contribute to this special issue of Conjunctions. Transdisciplinary Journal of Cultural Participation with the title Designing for Play as Cultural Participation in Childhood. Seeking new grounds

Editorial introduction to Designing for Play as Cultural Production in Childhood:Seeking new grounds

In 2021 the BIN network (Børneforskere i Norden - [Children’s Culture Researchers in the Nordic Countries]) invited researchers from all over the world to meet in order to explore potential relationships and bridges between two research areas, childhood studies and design, that share an interest in play as a topic of research.The conference invited both practitioners and scholars to participate to empower and enrich a landscape for conversation and development in order for the areas to inspire each other. Over 400 people from all over the world participated in sessions during the two-day conference.Based on the conference, we invited authors to contribute to this special issue of Conjunctions. Transdisciplinary Journal of Cultural Participation with the title Designing for Play as Cultural Participation in Childhood. Seeking new grounds

Wandering Fests: Relational Orientations in Academic Writing

Based on a number of PhD workshops called Wandering Feasts, in collaboration between Monash University and Design School Kolding, this article explores academic writing as both a mode and a method of inquiry. The article both points to and performs five creative-relational orientations to alternative academic writing: Performativity in challenging dominant ways of knowing and representing knowledge in the academy; emergence as mindfully holding open ideas of purpose and destination in favour of not-knowing; reciprocity in collectively creating charged encounters that spark new ways of knowing; improvisation in building social space where we felt comfortable jamming and givenness as a fundamental playfulness in which an academic community nurtures the courage to give–of ourselves. The article is in itself a manifestation of exploration writing in a playful and loosely defined process

Play Types, Design Principles and Participation in Play: How Is it Possible to Design for Participation in Play?

Many school-age children have difficulties participating in play and need support to find playmates, take the initiative and structure play. If children do not master these competencies, they risk ending up in a spiral in which they are not given the opportunity to practice playing and develop play competencies. The purpose of the present study is to investigate how design principles in three different play types can be formulated in order to support pedagogues (educators) in developing new play activities with significant potential for participation. In addition, how these design principles cover more general and generic principles are scrutinized. This paper is based on a three-year design-based research study in two Danish schools investigating three play types: creative play, role play and movement play. It also presents four design principles on each play type which were found to support the development of new play activities with inclusive potential. As a theoretical contribution, the design principles of each play type are meta-analysed with the goal of helping pedagogues generate play activities with different participation possibilities. The generic design principles are the essence of play, play practices, play materials and play opportunities for participation

Når børn fælles skaber – om børns materialiserede samvær i leg

Artiklen handler om samspillet mellem børns sociale praksisser og materialer. Med udgangspunkt i et empirisk materiale fra et designbaseret forskningsprojekt og begreberne intra-action (Barad, 2007) og affinity (Mason, 2018) udforskes det hvordan materialer indgår i børns leg med hinanden og hvilke potentialer materialer har i børns leg? Der er ikke blot tale om, at børn anvender og leger med materialer, men at materialerne enten gennem form, fylde, konsistens eller rammesætning påvirker børnene og sågar trækker legen og børnene i en særlig retning. Den måde børnene er sammen på, er ikke italesat verbalt af børnene, men kropsligt, og det markerer et social samvær gennem en fælles optagethed. Dertil viser artiklens analyser, at materialer muliggør og medetablerer et socialt rum i børns leg, og pædagogernes rammesætning af børns leg. Artiklen peger på, at materialers relationelle betydning skaber en forståelse for fælles skabende praksisser, som er kortvarige, intense, nonverbale, sensoriske, dynamiske og processuelle. Et fokus på materialitet og krop, frem for verbalt sprog og social position, vil i et fremadrettet forskningsperspektiv kunne bidrage med viden om, hvordan man kan skabe deltagelsesmuligheder for børn gennem brug af materialer

Inklusions- og eksklusionsprocesser i leg

Abstract I forskningsprojektet ’Må jeg være med’ (Skovbjerg, Hansen, Sand, Jensen, Lieberoth, Lehrman og Jørgensen, 2022) har vi som en del af projektet udforsket, hvordan pædagoger håndterer inklusions- og eksklusionsprocesser i relation til leg, samt hvilken betydning pædagogers håndtering af disse processer har for børns mulighed for deltagelse i leg. Artiklens analyser viser, at pædagogers håndtering af inklusions- og eksklusionsprocesser ikke i tilstrækkelig grad bidrager til, at børn i legevanskeligheder støttes i at blive deltagere i leg. Artiklen giver afslutningsvis anbefalinger til væsentlige opmærksomhedspunker i pædagogers arbejde med i højere grad at skabe deltagelsesmuligheder for alle børn i relation til leg