Critical Explorations of Crisis

Politics, Precariousness, and Potentialities

Helle Rydstrom, Mo Hamza, Thomas Gammeltoft-Hansen, Vanja Berggren, Helle Rydstrom, Mo Hamza, Thomas Gammeltoft-Hansen, Vanja Berggren

• Publisher: Bristol University Press
• Year: 2025
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781529246407
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Political History & Theory
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Claims to 'crisis' reverberate across societal and academic discourses, as people around the world face dire situations and detrimental challenges. Yet, the study of crisis tends to remain siloed and therefore oblivious to the multi-dimensional nature of crisis, which inhibits learning from one type of crisis to the next. Bringing together a broad team of contributors, this book argues for a new interdisciplinary field of crisis studies. Covering a range of cases, the book critically explores the intersections of socio-economic, political, climate, and health factors to unravel the dynamic and transformative forces of crisis. In doing so, the book contributes novel insights into human precariousness and resilience in times of crisis shaped by global—local inequities, 'post-fact' discourses, and politics.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Information
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Notes on Contributors
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction: ‘Crisis Times’ – Critical Explorations of Crisis Politics, Precariousness, and Potentialities
• 1 Crisis as Experience and Politics
• 2 The Case for Interdisciplinary Crisis Studies
• 3 Refugee Crises: An Architype for Crisis Studies
• 4 Crisis and Society: Developing the Theory of Crisis in the Context of COVID-19
• 5 Slow Crisis in Bissau and Beyond
• 6 The ‘Hardship’ of Ordinary Crises: Gendered Precariousness and Horizons of Coping in Vietnam’s Industrial Zones
• 7 The Place and Potential of Crisis/Crises in Critical Studies on Men and Masculinities
• 8 Surviving in Overcome Heights: Living In and Alongside Crisis in Cape Town
• 9 Chronic Crisis and Nuclear Disaster Humanitarianism: Recuperation of Chernobyl and Fukushima Children in Italy
• 10 Crisis Futures: COVID-19 and the Speculative Turning Point of History
• 11 The Ends of Perpetual Crisis
• 12 A Decisive Moment: Human Rights or Authoritarianism? It Is a Choice
• Index