Lost in data space : using nomadic analysis to perform social science

This chapter will use the nomadology of Deleuze and Guattari (1987) as a basis for social inquiry, and not a form of 'new management'. In A Thousand Plateaus, the nomad exerts force beyond the specific historical reality of the thirteenth-century Mongol nomadic invasions in Europe. This is because the nomad is treated by Deleuze and Guattari as a concept that has political, affective and social realities. In this chapter, I will take this concept of the nomad and use it to analyse qualitative data. The claim is that nomadic analysis serves to demonstrate a new way to perform social science that is non-sedentary. The concept of the nomad, and the resulting analysis, is given content through an Australian government-sponsored research project on the voices shaping the perspectives of young Muslim Australians. I was part of a team from the University of Technology, Sydney, which researched the voices that shape the opinions of young Muslims in Australia (2009/10). We looked, for example, at the religious, secular, community and peer influences on Muslims in Australia, and how they shaped the perspectives of the youth. It was clear that the questions concerning this research would, for the researchers, touch upon many levels, from the deeply personal to the global and political. For example, what was our political position as university-backed social researchers? Were we merely working for the government as part of an information sweep through Muslim communities? How should we deal with controversial issues, such as those concerning security and conflict?