Moving beyond 'common sense' understandings of nature and society in the Scottish Highlands

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Moving beyond 'common sense' understandings of nature and society in the Scottish Highlands: A study of socio-natural relations and heritage in Wester RossInfluenced by scholars who have demonstrated the mystifications and discursive strategies used to hide many of the realities of socio-natural relations under capitalism, I will investigate the social construction of heritage and nature-society relationships in Wester Ross in the Scottish Highlands. The research will analyse dominant discourses and practices surrounding nature and landscapes and the role of place as a source of culture and identity (Escobar, 2008). Wester Ross provides the focus for a situated-historical study of heritage, culture, nature and conservation as the region is currently understudied, despite fruitful opportunities for research. Wester Ross was awarded UNESCO Biosphere Reserve status in 2016, a conservation accolade promoting sustainable human-environment relationships. Furthermore, the region has been consistently identified by national actors since post-war years for statutory conservation designations, deemed the last great wilderness of Scotland. This project analyses socio-natural relations within this context and in relation to land reform policy and the cultural politics of Gaelic language revival.The research questions are:- How do dominant discourses constitute 'common-sense' understandings of Highland landscapes as 'natural' and 'wild'?- In what ways do these discourses inform associated policies and practices surrounding land use, resources and socio-natural relationships?--How are these negotiated and contested?--What are the implications for policy and practice in natural heritage conservation and socio-natural processes in this context and beyond?--Can alternative understandings, sensitive to socio-natures, resource-based rights and justice issues on a global scale inform future approaches?MethodologyThe research methodology is informed by epistemologies which transcend reproduced dichotomies of being-thinking, social-natural and subject-object. Hence considering knowledge as emergent from intellect, emotion and engagement, feeling and experience and subjective and multiple rather than objective and singular (Jubas, 2010). Most importantly, this means recognising that "separated from praxis, theory vainly comes to grips with falsely formulated...problems" (Lefebvre, 1982: 34). Drawing together critical epistemologies from across sociology, anthropology and history, I will develop a pluralistic both/and qualitative methodology which acknowledges there is no singular or superior theory (Stuart, 2016). I will create an interdisciplinary methodological framework informed by scholars who have created productive tension between the hegemonic and non-hegemonic politics of Gramsci and Deleuze and Guattari respectively (Purcell, 2012) and between Gramsci, Bourdieu and Polanyi (Burawoy, 2003; 2012).Integrating theory and practice, I will combine discourse-based methods with ethnography. Discourses produce meaning and perform a naturalizing function, defining the parameters of acceptable practices (Woodward, 2001) and practice-focused methods give due attention to material conditions of existence (Krzyzanowski, 2011). I will analyse key documentary materials including texts and visual materials, predominantly historical resources relating to local cultures and landscapes, identified through archives (Am Baile) and fieldwork. Ethnographic research will be carried out in Gairloch; a coastal village where the heritage museum project 'Our Land, Our People, Our Story' is unfolding. Whilst using participant observations (attending councils, community and organisations' meetings) and individual interviews, I will also access surrounding ethnographic contexts, including nearby crofting communities, Letterewe Estate, Applecross Heritage Centre and Ullapool Museum.