TiCToC: Times in Crisis, Times of Crisis: The Temporalities of Europe in Polycrisis
This project explores the temporal registers of crisis, the vernacular articulation of life in turmoil, and the cultural dynamics expressed in crisis contexts. The central contention is the need to unravel what we term ‘times in/of crisis’. Critically, what distinguishes ‘crisis time’ from ‘normal time’?
It is often said that Europe is in polycrisis: Climate, economy, migration, democracy, armed conflict and academia are pertinent fields where crisis abounds. This project offers empirical, methodological and theoretical apparatuses to better analyze what such crisis attentiveness effects, interrogating what the diverse yet now common category of ‘crisis’ accomplishes. Offering ethnographic takes on philosophical questions concerning ‘times in/of crisis’, each work package addresses three temporal pins – past, present, and future. Centered in anthropology and working across art, history, ethnology, memory studies, and philosophy, this project critically places time at the heart of crisis work, asking what it means to live in times of crisis, how crisis changes over time, and how crisis is perceived in hindsight.
WP1 is primarily field research-oriented. Led by PIs from Prague/Brno and Vienna, WP1 addresses times of crisis and the fallout of the Ukraine conflict in Eastern Europe in comparison to conflict crises past and future. Research will be conducted in Czechia and Hungary-Ukraine border with a Ukrainian PDR based in Vienna. The legacy of previous conflict crises, such as the Cold War and the 1968 Prague Spring will be considered in relation to the current crisis in the East. Primary focus will be on the everyday impact of war and the anticipation of conflict including how current events affect historical consciousness of past crises, mundane practices in the present, and the capacity for future-building in a region of great uncertainty. Secondary considerations will be the knock-on consequences of war and conflict on other nodes of crisis, including economics, climate, extremist politics, and migration. Using existing editing suits and audio studios in Vienna, a collaborative social documentary will be made. This WP will work with Open Society Archives (Austria, Cold War), Post Bellum (Czechia, memory work) and FESTE theatre (Czechia, performance).
STAFF: WP Leads: Naumescu, Nosková. Regional Expertise: Naumescu, Nosková, Poljak Istenič. Thematic Expertise: Bandak, Naumescu, Nosková. Additional: Králová, Pavlásek (Prague, Brno).
WP2 is primarily field research-oriented. Led by PIs from St Andrews and Ljubljana, WP2 addresses the ongoing consequences of the economic crisis that gripped Mediterranean countries after the global financial crash of 2008/9. Research will be conducted on the Slovenia-Italy border and in Greece. Despite no longer being headline news, the fallout from a decade of fiscal austerity continues to shape government policy, employment opportunities, and future prospects for communities across the region. Primary consideration will be given to the psychosocial effects of chronic economic hardship and what people experience when a short-term crisis ‘rupture’ becomes an elongated condition. The two case studies showcase very different short and long-term effects of economic destitution and will explicitly link to the green (climate) economy through categories such as food supply, sustainability, and health provision. While Greece was a ‘noisy’ case of economic decline, Slovenia remained in media shadows (‘quiet’, but equally devastating) during the financial crash and recovery. How are crises condensed and elongated when a dramatic event becomes a chronic state? WP includes beyond-academy collaboration with Slovene Ethnological Society and EthnoFest.
STAFF: WP Leads: Knight, Poljak Istenič. Regional Expertise: Bandak, Cabot, Knight, Králová. Thematic Expertise: Cabot, Knight, Poljak Istenič. Additional: Kozorog (Ljubljana).
WP3 is primarily field research-oriented. Led by PIs from Copenhagen and Bergen, WP3 addresses the impact of increased migration to Scandinavia from countries experiencing war and conflict outside of Europe. Research will be conducted in Denmark and Norway with recent migrant arrivals. Attention will be paid to the rise in populist right-wing politics in Scandinavia and programs for attempted integration of migrant populations. Research will consider the contemporary “business of crisis” in setting up sovereign wealth funds and nationality-based access to care. Further consideration will be given to the economic impact of migration, how war is embodied by displaced populations, and forced migration as a result of climate catastrophes. In what ways do migrants embody times of crisis by carrying crisis with them across borders and relocating to a prejudice political system? The NMD is key partner on WP3 in hosting museum events in the dissemination phase.
STAFF: WP Leads: Bandak, Cabot. Regional Expertise: Bandak, Cabot. Thematic Expertise: Bandak, Cabot, Naumescu, Nosková. Additional: Bendixsen (Bergen).
- Project Leader: Andreas Bandak, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
- Daniel Knight, University of St Andrews, United Kingdom
- Heath Cabot and Synnøve Bendixsen, University of Bergen, Norway
- Saša Poljak Istenič, Znanstvenoraziskovalni center Slovenske akademije znanosti in umetnosti (ZRC SAZU), Slovenia
- Vlad Naumescu, Central European University, Austria
- Jana Nosková and and Kateřina Králová, Institute of Ethnology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Czechia
Researchers
| Name | Title | |
|---|---|---|
| Andreas Bandak | Associate Professor - Promotion Programme |
|
| Magnus Børlum Dam Olesen | Project Coordinator |
|
- Astrid Erll, Professor, Goethe University/Institute of English and American Studies, Germany
- Eelco Runia, author, cultural historian, psychologist, Independent, Netherlands
- Francois Hartog, Professor, EHESS/, France
- Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht, Professor, Stanford University/School of Humanities and the Sciences/Division of Literatures, Cultures, and Languages, United States
- Jane Bennett, Professor, Johns Hopkins University/Department of Comparative Thought and Literature, United States
- Rebecca Bryant, Professor, Utrecht University/Department of Cultural Anthropology, Netherlands
- Susana Narotzky, Professor, University of Barcelona/Department of Social Anthropology, Spain
- Morten Nielsen, National Museum of Denmark, Denmark
- Jiri Honzirek, Divadlo Feste, Czech Republic
- Marie Janouskova, Post Bellum, Czech Republic
- Tanja Roženbergar, Slovene Ethnological Society, Slovenia
- Istvan Rev, Director, Open Society Archive, Hungary
- Director and co-founder Konstantinos Aivaliotis, Ethnofest, Greece
Funding
TiCToC: Times in Crisis, Times of Crisis: The Temporalities of Europe in Polycrisis has received funding from CHANSE, Collaboration of Humanities and Social Sciences in Europe.
Project: TiCToC: Times in Crisis, Times of Crisis: The Temporalities of Europe in Polycrisis
Period: 1 March 2025 - 29 February 2028
Contact
Project Leader Andreas Bandak