Ways of Knowing: crossing species boundaries

Recording of presentation given at Vital Signs 2 Conference, 7-9 September 2010, University of Manchester

Empirical social science research is inevitably highly dependent on verbal communication. Observation, ethnographic and visual methods do of course go beyond words (or meanings derived and shared through language) but talking remains central. In this paper I want to explore ways of knowing that, while not fully independent of talk, discourse and narrative, nonetheless form a bodily way of knowing. Thinking about other ways of knowing is a challenge, but it is important that there is space to appreciate the different ways in which people come to know things. So in this paper I shall give consideration to acquiring cross-species knowledge using the example of human interaction with horses. In this realm it is vital to speak through the body and to interpret through parts of the body not usually called upon in the research process. In this way I will explore knowledge claims which are not usually regarded a legitimate but which may have parallels with work in fields of dance and music.