Assemblages in Flight: Flickering Ontologies and Wildness in the Formation of Multispecies Assemblages

In this article, we adopt assemblage as methodology and as a way to foreground the vitality and relational agency of other species as they encounter humans. Research as assemblage is a process of becoming with others, and we experienced that ontological process during three environmental excursions...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Peter Renshaw, Kirsty Jackson, Ron Tooth
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press 2024-04-01
Series:Australian Journal of Environmental Education
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0814062624000247/type/journal_article
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849389998542946304
author Peter Renshaw
Kirsty Jackson
Ron Tooth
author_facet Peter Renshaw
Kirsty Jackson
Ron Tooth
author_sort Peter Renshaw
collection DOAJ
description In this article, we adopt assemblage as methodology and as a way to foreground the vitality and relational agency of other species as they encounter humans. Research as assemblage is a process of becoming with others, and we experienced that ontological process during three environmental excursions as we became entangled in multispecies assemblages with children, the Crow, the Sea Eagle and the Bee. The production of the three assemblages and the rhizomic networks that formed materially and discursively across time occurred within an affective milieu characterised by sensory attentiveness and attunement to the affective power of coincidence. Analysing the formation and reformation of the assemblages enabled us to identify the phenomenon of “ontological flickering” where the ontological foundation of experience shifted moment by moment and remained playfully unresolved. We also consider how multispecies encounters relate to wildness, understood in Thoreau’s terms as unsettling encounters with otherness. In concluding, we recognise our incomplete becoming with others as co-authors and acknowledge the Crow the Sea Eagle and the Bee as powerful teachers.
format Article
id doaj-art-d6785c66e72f413cb0d978610fdeb4f5
institution Kabale University
issn 0814-0626
2049-775X
language English
publishDate 2024-04-01
publisher Cambridge University Press
record_format Article
series Australian Journal of Environmental Education
spelling doaj-art-d6785c66e72f413cb0d978610fdeb4f52025-08-20T03:41:47ZengCambridge University PressAustralian Journal of Environmental Education0814-06262049-775X2024-04-014020021510.1017/aee.2024.24Assemblages in Flight: Flickering Ontologies and Wildness in the Formation of Multispecies AssemblagesPeter Renshaw0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2052-2055Kirsty Jackson1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8535-2368Ron Tooth2https://orcid.org/0009-0003-0016-3088School of Education, The University of Queensland, Saint Lucia, QLD, AustraliaSchool of Education, The University of Queensland, Saint Lucia, QLD, AustraliaSchool of Education, The University of Queensland, Saint Lucia, QLD, AustraliaIn this article, we adopt assemblage as methodology and as a way to foreground the vitality and relational agency of other species as they encounter humans. Research as assemblage is a process of becoming with others, and we experienced that ontological process during three environmental excursions as we became entangled in multispecies assemblages with children, the Crow, the Sea Eagle and the Bee. The production of the three assemblages and the rhizomic networks that formed materially and discursively across time occurred within an affective milieu characterised by sensory attentiveness and attunement to the affective power of coincidence. Analysing the formation and reformation of the assemblages enabled us to identify the phenomenon of “ontological flickering” where the ontological foundation of experience shifted moment by moment and remained playfully unresolved. We also consider how multispecies encounters relate to wildness, understood in Thoreau’s terms as unsettling encounters with otherness. In concluding, we recognise our incomplete becoming with others as co-authors and acknowledge the Crow the Sea Eagle and the Bee as powerful teachers.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0814062624000247/type/journal_articleAffective milieuenchantmentflickering ontologiesmultispecies assemblageswildness
spellingShingle Peter Renshaw
Kirsty Jackson
Ron Tooth
Assemblages in Flight: Flickering Ontologies and Wildness in the Formation of Multispecies Assemblages
Australian Journal of Environmental Education
Affective milieu
enchantment
flickering ontologies
multispecies assemblages
wildness
title Assemblages in Flight: Flickering Ontologies and Wildness in the Formation of Multispecies Assemblages
title_full Assemblages in Flight: Flickering Ontologies and Wildness in the Formation of Multispecies Assemblages
title_fullStr Assemblages in Flight: Flickering Ontologies and Wildness in the Formation of Multispecies Assemblages
title_full_unstemmed Assemblages in Flight: Flickering Ontologies and Wildness in the Formation of Multispecies Assemblages
title_short Assemblages in Flight: Flickering Ontologies and Wildness in the Formation of Multispecies Assemblages
title_sort assemblages in flight flickering ontologies and wildness in the formation of multispecies assemblages
topic Affective milieu
enchantment
flickering ontologies
multispecies assemblages
wildness
url https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0814062624000247/type/journal_article
work_keys_str_mv AT peterrenshaw assemblagesinflightflickeringontologiesandwildnessintheformationofmultispeciesassemblages
AT kirstyjackson assemblagesinflightflickeringontologiesandwildnessintheformationofmultispeciesassemblages
AT rontooth assemblagesinflightflickeringontologiesandwildnessintheformationofmultispeciesassemblages