Theorizing for Transformative Collective Action - A Process-Relational Approach

This paper draws on process-relational perspectives to present an understanding of socio-environmental problems not as obstacles but as modes of existence. We argue that engaging with problems in this way unlocks their potential to be transformative, rather than merely resolving them. But how can those who set up and engage with processes of transformative change unlock this potential? This brings us to the topic of theorizing, as we argue that theorizing is an integral and fundamental part of engaging with problems. In this paper we develop an approach to theorizing for transformative collective action based on two key aspects: “Time”, building on Gilles Deleuze, and the “Complex We”, building on Marisol de La Cadena. As to the first, we explore how the past and future condition our understanding of problems, contrasting a linear, sequential view of time with a process-relational one where past and future are contracted in the present and are continuously reconfigured via processes of difference and repetition. As to the second, we introduce the "complex we", an emergent subjectivity as the agent of theorizing as that which supports reconfiguration of the past and the future. Together, these two aspects open up the transformative potential of socio-environmental problems beyond what could be conceptualized on the basis of linear time. We apply our approach to theorizing to a research project in Southern France, where problems such as tensions and conflicts over water availability are explored collaboratively. The paper concludes by discussing the strengths and limitations of our approach.