Alexandra Plows
Bangor University
Dr. Alexandra Plows is a Research Fellow at Bangor University and has over 20 years of experience as an ethnographer. Her Ph.D. and early research work focused on the UK environmental direct-action movement from an “insider” perspective and was informed by feminist research practices, particularly autobiographical and reflexive approaches. She then spent several years undertaking qualitative research, including ethnography, exploring emergent public engagement with human genetic technologies. Through this research, she made an empirical contribution to Science and Technology Studies (STS) literature on public knowledge and public engagement, and STS debates on (scientific) knowledge as a social construct. Dr. Plows has also undertaken ethnographic research relating to the dynamics of regional labour markets, specifically an “embedded” ethnography of stakeholder organisations seeking to mitigate the impacts of deindustrialisation and redundancy in North Wales. Dr. Plows’ research approach can be summarised as reflexive and participatory ‘action research’ informed by environmental and social justice frameworks. Many of her current research projects are focused on interdisciplinary, participatory research and knowledge exchange, particularly at the interface of social science and environmental studies, such as human/nature relationships, and associated practices and values.