Sociography of a curious object: Descriptive research, the #OneLess refill pilot, and practices of hesitation

Abstract

The implications of sociography for thinking with global environmental problems are foregrounded by Bruno Latour in Down to Earth. In order to deal with the metamorphosis of the world and take into account multiplying viewpoints, Latour argues sociologists must shift the focus of enquiry from theoretical analyses of environmental problems to descriptions of the existence of environmental issues in experimental settings, local shared spaces and common practices. Taking up Latour’s challenge of description from the bottom up, this article examines London’s #OneLess refill water fountain pilot project initiated in 2018 to reduce plastic water bottle consumption, as an example of how scientists are at the forefront of assembling the public existence of environmental problems in local settings. Addressing my participant observation in the refill experiment, the article highlights the methodological challenges the #OneLess pilot poses for generating descriptions of what it means to engage with environmental issues sociographically. By engaging description as a methodological problem, the article examines the strengths and limitations of existing descriptive approaches and develops a different way of deploying a sociographical imagination that attempts to make sense of hesitation as a transformative practice of environmental knowledge production.