Abstract:
Dualistic approaches that separate the natural from the social have long been the norm in sociology, but they are flawed in an era of ecological crisis where the interconnections between humans and nature have never been thrown into starker relief. Natural entities—animals, plants, and even rivers—are not simply facets of ecology but actors that impact human lives and co-create the human world, and in this sense are social entities, too. If we accept this, then natural entities fall under the realm of sociological inquiry—but how might we study them? I outline how it is possible to “interview a river” through translation, which takes four forms: scientific translation (ecological knowledge), cultural translation (collective knowledge), lived translation (local knowledge), and personal translation (experiential knowledge, or positionality). Taken together, these modes of translation let social scientists understand the social roles of a river and help us include natural entities in the non-dualistic research appropriate for our current moment.