Third Knowledge Spaces between Nature and Society: A Dialogue

Abstract

The planetary ecological crisis has softened the well-established borders between the natural and the social sciences. The Anthropocene not only induces new modes of experiencing and inquiring nature, but also shakes the fairly robust differentiation between conflicting epistemic positionalities between explanatory, interpretative, and normative research approaches in a most profound way. For the social as well as for the natural sciences, nature, instead of being a mere resource, has become a political topic. But what does it mean to do research on the environment within the Anthropocene? Through a dialogue between a marine biogeochemist and a sociologist of science, we discuss the possibilities to experiment with the methods and reflexivities of a growing number of intertwined nature-society complexes. By exploring what we call third knowledge spaces between nature and society through our research experiences, we offer an example in putting into question our respective disciplinary positionalities. We hope to contribute thereby to a growing number of inter- and transdisciplinary attempts to turn the climate and biodiversity crisis into experimental cooperation and, finally, enhance the degrees of freedom to create a shared future.