My main focus is on the relationship between the economy, social organization, and the environment. I’m particularly interested in how people manage the tensions between modern markets and the dynamic spontaneity of environmental life. How are markets arranged to avoid or benefit from biological animacy, and how are the biologies of things affected by economic practices? What tools are introduced to mediate various economic-environment conflicts or create new opportunities? I have two projects currently that explore these themes: I’ve been researching aesthetic trends and technologies in apple production, and I work on a large, interdisciplinary project called the New Zealand Sustainability Dashboard. I also do work on food politics, natural resources and inequality, science and technology, and contemporary social theory.
Katharine Legun 