Negotiating salt worlds: causation and material participation

In this article, we analyze the role of measurements practices ina public dispute about the impacts of t mining in the Netherlands.Drawing on studies of material participation and agential realism,we analyze how measurement practices shape he boundaries ofsubsurface objects . We detail how these boundaries become relevantfor assessing mining impacts and show how this enables andconstrains material participation. Simply put, if a process or thing isnot measured into being, it cannot participate in negotiationsabout causality and impact. Our analysis shows that scientific conventionsnarrowly determined what measurements are credibleand, consequently, limited the participation of other objects andprocesses in negotiations about damage and compensation. Thisunderscores how ontological disagreements about the existenceand measurability of subsurface processes affect what claims can bemade . We conclude by discussing conditions for pluralist andequitable processes of material participation in measurementpractices.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Meesters, M.E., Turnhout, E., Behagel, J.H.
Format: Article/Letter to editor biblioteca
Language:English
Subjects:Life Science,
Online Access:https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/negotiating-salt-worlds-causation-and-material-participation
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