Hi, Maya Hey, and welcome to Tema (Department of Thematic Studies) and to Gender studies/The Posthumanities Hub – on location now at Linköping University! (Interview done originally by TEMA Kom )

What’s your research about?

I study fermentation as a way to understand humans and microbes working together. Although microbes—like bacteria, moulds, and yeasts—were discovered by science only a few hundred years ago, people have been fermenting foods for millennia and have accumulated embodied knowledge and generational experience working with microbes. 

People all over the world have been fermenting too, so human-microbe interactions have spanned both time and place. Rather than focus on the outcome of fermentation (like wine, cheese, bread, and pickles), I’m more interested in the process of making ferments, because it asks fermenters to engage with this mostly invisible world, repeatedly and incrementally, over time. In other words, fermentation has given us non-technical ways of knowing microbes, for instance, by taste, scent, texture, and temperature. This more-than-scientific way for knowing microbes expands who can know what microbe is (e.g., microbiologists, farmers, nonnas and aunties), where (e.g., in laboratories, in kitchens), and how (e.g., by one’s senses, by tools, by intuition). 

What do you find most exciting or innovative in your research field right now?

There are two strands of my research field that are gaining momentum. The first is the non-technical study of microbes, taken up by scholars from the social sciences and humanities, who are working alongside and in collaborations with artists and practitioners. Microbes are everywhere, always, and affect all aspects of life on this damaged planet—so we need more than just scientists researching what microbes are and what they do and why they matter. My affiliate Centre for the Social Study of Microbes is trying to develop this field, both methodologically (how can we study microbes outside of laboratory protocols and tools?) and theoretically (what are microbes when they defy binaries like self/other, human/nonhuman, nature/culture?) which is exciting. Part of why we need new theories about microbes is because of the hype they carry in “solutions” like microbiome research, biomanufacturing, bioprospecting, bioremediation, and biotechnological innovations like cellular agriculture and precision fermentation. While the promise might be real, we need just as much attention to the social aspects of these innovations, so as not to reinforce existing forms of extraction, exclusion, or inequities. (Consider how, for instance, gut microbiome research extracts “good” microbes from indigenous communities in the Global South to commercialise and capitalise in the Global North.) 

The other strand that excites me is that the social study of microbes has its disciplinary roots in feminist science studies and feminist/cultural critiques of science. Broadly speaking, these approaches argue against taking objectivity at face value or as a given; instead, knowledge is thought to be context-dependent and predicated on who does the research, why, and how. What happens when we start to view all knowledge as being socially predicated means that we can start to pick apart knowledge hierarchies and understand that all claims reflect a kind of power dynamic across gendered, racialised, classed, able-bodied, and geopolitical lines. This attention to detail matters for the social study of microbes because it’s no longer Big Science (and the mostly affluent, masculine) perspectives that can make claims about what microbes are and do.

Why did you choose to come to TEMA?

I’m visiting the Posthumanities Hub at TEMA because the people and initiatives here are at the vanguard of (re)thinking the role of humans in the face of nested challenges on this damaged planet. I’m interested in how different scholars take up, meet with, and advance discussions about environmental sustainability and social justice, especially as a trans-disciplinary and co-creative endeavour. The Hub is truly at the helm of this kind of work, with activities that think critically and creatively about what (else) we are to do. So far, I’ve had great conversations—formally and informally—that span human/nonhuman, art/science, thinking/doing. And it has been so refreshing to be immersed in this kind of community who think transversally and openly.

What do you hope to accomplish during your stay?

I’ve just signed a contract for my first monograph, which is about fermentation and microbial time. My hope is to revise the introduction during my stay (of a short but intense three weeks) so that it can appeal to audiences across cultural studies, environmental humanities, and gender/queer studies. I’m also excited about having conversations with people here about the fascinating work taking place at TEMA. 

What are you looking forward to during your stay? 

This is my first time in Linköping, and I’m already amazed by the university infrastructure (wide bike lanes! weekly fresh fruit!) and general warm-heartedness that I see in the hallways. I’m looking forward to meeting people, and I hope people feel comfortable approaching me in the lunch room or elsewhere.