Thinking against Crisis

Abstract

In light of multiple crises and global authoritarian transformations extending into academic spaces, what might a research practice look like that combines critical crisis analysis with a research approach focused on spaces of possibility? In our contribution, we draw on our own experiences as researchers and university teachers, as well as jointly published texts, to explore this question. Against the backdrop of a more detailed characterization of current crisis dynamics, we turn in a second step to the concepts of hope and utopian thinking in order to make both concepts productive for ethnographic research in Cultural Anthropology and to highlight possibilities for combining critical contemporary analysis with the exploration of creative interventions. We argue that this can only succeed if anthropologists take on new roles – as mediators, enablers, and promoters - – and commit themselves to a partisan position. We will explore what this might look like in more detail in our conclusion.