On the political nature of cyanobacteria: intra-active collective politics in Loweswater, the English Lake District

A groundbreaking approach to environmental management emerged from the Loweswater Care Project (LCP), which demonstrated that political and ecological action can be shaped through 'intra-active collective politics.' This method, rooted in posthumanist thinking and science and technology studies, revealed the radical relationality between people and their environment. Over three years, the LCP experimented with new forms of collective decision-making, challenging traditional management practices by emphasizing the potential for action within complex material relations. The study, conducted between 2007 and 2010 in Loweswater, the English Lake District, highlighted how such collaborative politics can reshape our understanding of environmental governance and the role of science in shaping emerging worlds.

Waterton, C., & Tsouvalis, J. (2015). On the political nature of cyanobacteria: intra-active collective politics in Loweswater, the English Lake District. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 33(3), 477–493. https://doi.org/10.1177/0263775815594305