Geographies of Experiment/Experimental Geographies: A Rough Guide

Geographers have increasingly employed the notion of experiment to describe the explorative styles of researching and thinking that they have elaborated in response to the complexities that characterise the present world. This article discusses the shifting uses of the notion in recent contributions, tracing out the ethical, methodological and theoretical sensibilities that it brings into geography. The article falls into two parts, the first reviewing geographies of experiment-that is, accounts exploring diverse empirical sites of experimentation, from scientific laboratories to performance art and urban spaces. The second part concentrates on experimental geographies which involve attempts by human geographers and other social and cultural researchers to reconsider their practices as experimental. Although the notion of experiment might take on varied functions and meanings, the article indicates that it offers plenty of inspiration for geographical learning and more collaborative and responsive modes of researching and thinking.