Crisis|Knowledge

Ethnographic Research in Co-Laborations and Contexts of Urgency

Abstract

Crises no longer shape the present as exceptional circumstances, but as the norm. This article shows that crisis knowledge and knowledge crises are inextricably intertwined in long-lasting crisis contexts. The examples of groundwater governance in Europe and the ongoing geopolitical crisis in Bosnia-Herzegovina reveal how knowledge creates urgency, shapes the future, and contributes to the stabilization of crisis-ridden orders. The concept of Crisis|Knowledge (Krisen|Wissen) describes this relational space of negotiation in which knowledge produces crisis and crisis structures knowledge production. Ethnographic research is itself part of these knowledge ecologies. It reveals the routines, affects, and narratives through which crises become normal. Furthermore, it reflects on its own role in the emergence, translation, and stabilization of crisis-related truths.