Making the universe together: Baradian inspirations for the future of qualitative psychology

Karen Barad’s agential realism argues for an ‘onto-epistemological’ position where phenomena occur only during intra-actions with discursive and material apparatus. Applying agential realism to psychological phenomena has potential to overcome an often-met material/discursive divide within the discipline, unlocking important ethical and conceptual possibilities. Despite this, a Baradian approach has been dismissed as unworkable for psychologists due to its lack of explanation for experiential consistency. We re-butt this position while nonetheless noting that to fully realise Barad’s contributions, psychologists must open themselves to new ways of approaching their subjects. Three key tenets of a Baradian approach applied to psychological phenomena are outlined: 1. self-structure singularity 2. spatio-temporality and 3. playfulness and experimentation. Examples of Baradian-inspired qualitative research illustrate these tenets in action, highlighting how Baradian theory can transcend current conceptual and ethical limitations as psychological phenomena is viewed as continuously reconfigured through human-human and human-non-human intra-actions we all have responsibility for.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14780887.2024.2390930