Articulation(s) of Culture(s): Mobilizing knowledge, ecological justice, and media convergence

This paper draws on articulation(s) as a multi-method countermethodology in the design of educational research. We use this form of critical
inquiry to examine ecological literacies and digital epistemologies associated with
Dow’s 2006 worldwide advertising campaign, “The Human Element”.
Articulation(s) draw from research that continues to evolve reflexively and that
openly questions deterministic institutional explanations. Our interpretation of
articulation(s) include(s) critical processes for gathering, analyzing, and
interpreting data. A critique of Dow‘s “The Human Element” ad is provided as an
example of how multimodal forms of information have been mobilized,
(re)presented, (re)mixed, and (re)mediated using media convergence, how various
points of view intersect formations of everyday digital media networks, and how
communication practices entail subtle and complex relationships associated with
social and political meanings and values. Our focus is on social justice issues of
ecology as mobilized through media convergence. We argue that an integrated and
negotiated approach to critical inquiry linking ecological justice through education
can help researchers, teachers, and students analyze conditions of culture(s) within
the contexts of complex political and social conditions that are prevalent in most
societies.