Nouveau livre – Resituating Crisis

Dans cet ouvrage récemment publié, les éditrices Lola Aubry (UniGR-CBS) et Dorte Jagetic Andersen (Centre for Border Region Studies) ont rassemblé 14 contributions consacrées à une analyse ethnographique et critique des crises contemporaines et des discours qui les entourent.

S'appuyant sur l'expertise d'anthropologues, de géographes et d'universitaires spécialisés dans les études culturelles, l'ouvrage offre un aperçu des connaissances et des expériences vécues des crises et explore les manières d'être en crise et d'y répondre, y compris les expressions artistiques, les mouvements politiques, le volontariat et les formes plus quotidiennes de résilience.

Parmi les contributeurs figurent des chercheurs spécialisés dans les études sur les frontières, qui proposent des chapitres explorant les frontières et les zones frontalières en tant que sites de crise, examinant la crise du régime frontalier européen et abordant les expériences vécues de la crise par ceux qui vivent dans les zones frontalières.

L'UniGR-CBS s'est entretenu avec la co-éditrice, Lola Aubry, à propos de la sortie du nouveau livre (échange en anglais).

Together with D. J. Andersen, you have published an anthology on a highly topical subject. What new perspectives on crises does the book open up?

I would identify three main perspectives. First, the anthology adopts a nuanced approach to crises. It goes further than saying that they are destructive and negative. It explores their transformative and critique-inducing potential and examines how individuals and communities integrate both widespread and everyday forms of crisis into their practices. This sheds light on the resilience, adaptability, and creativity of individuals and groups navigating crises.

Second, the book investigates situations where crisis becomes an integral part of normality itself. While the media and politicians often depict crises—such as violent conflicts, pandemics, or forced migration—as disruptions of normality, this anthology delves into what it means to live in a reality where crisis does not merely distort normality but becomes a normalized part of it.

Last but not least, the overall idea of the book is to emphasize the importance of everyday life and situated knowledges in understanding crisis, conceptualizing crisis, and critiquing mediatic crisis discourses. We argue that an ethnographic perspective is essential to move beyond one-sided and pre-established ideas of crisis. By situating crisis discourses in specific contexts, the book enables an understanding of crises as lived, performed—sometimes in contradictory ways—, and mitigated. As Olivier Kramsch aptly notes in his afterword, the book "spatializes" crisis, re-embedding it into specific spaces and places.

 

Many of the authors' contributions discuss crises in relation to borders and migration. Is there a particular relationship?

Absolutely. Several contributions critically engage with the idea of the so-called migration crisis, as framed by media and political debates. Others examine borders in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, showcasing the value of approaching crises from the perspective of borders, which helps to resituate the geopolitical in the everyday. This focus reflects the expertise of many contributors in border studies.

At the same time, the chapters extend well beyond borders and migration, addressing crises related to gender, belonging, citizenship, and other themes. These diverse contexts enrich our understanding of how crises unfold and are lived. Importantly, the anthology challenges the focus on highly visible, mediatized crises, encouraging us to consider crises in broader, situated, less conventional, and more ordinary ways.

 

You have mobilized authors from various disciplines for your anthology. What added value does the interdisciplinary discussion of crises provide?

By drawing on disciplines such as anthropology, geography, and cultural studies, the volume examines a wide range of practices related to crises, including artistic expressions, political movements, volunteering, and everyday forms of resilience.

At the same time, each disciplinary perspective uniquely contributes to achieving two central objectives of the book: a critical examination of crisis discourses and a nuanced exploration of the lived experiences of crises. In other words, the anthology offers a variety of conceptual approaches to crises, compelling arguments for rethinking them, and empirical insights that examine specific crises from critical, decentered and often unexpected angles.

 

You can read the introduction here for free

Données bibliographiques

Dorte Jagetic Andersen et Lola Aubry (éd.) (2025): Resituating Crisis. Silencing and Voicing Crisis in Everyday Life. New York, Berghahn, DOI: 10.3167/9781805398257.
Plus d'information