Assembling the Situation: Situational Analysis After the Nonhuman Turn

In this paper, I propose a reconceptualization of human and non-human elements in qualitative research by treating them not as pre-given entities but as nested assemblages. I draw on the work of DELEUZE and GUATTARI (2004 [1980]) to integrate the metaconcept of the assemblage into situational analysis (CLARKE, FRIESE & WASHBURN, 2018), thereby addressing its limitations in handling nonhuman elements and fully aligning it with the nonhuman turn. Two heuristics-capacities and internal limits-are introduced to operationalize this approach, enabling the deconstruction of elements' perceived unity and the mapping of the modules that constitute them. I start out by exploring the nonhuman turn and the concepts of assemblages and rhizomes. I then trace the evolution of situational analysis from grounded theory methodology, highlighting inconsistencies in the treatment of nonhuman elements. By reconfiguring situational analysis's analytical space, I locate situations among other situations and treat their elements as products of heterogeneous assemblages. With this framework, I demonstrate how situational analysis can effectively analyze how nonhuman elements emerge and how they participate in situations via specific capacities.