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 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’. In crisis, people may feel like the clock is ticking (“TiC[k]ToC[k]”), or time is running out to avert crisis or deal with its effects. Crisis can be fast, slow, a sudden rupture, a chronic inescapable condition, be axiomatic, an era-defining atmosphere or mood, or an uncanny state of constant anticipation. 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. Critically, what distinguishes ‘crisis time’ from ‘normal time’?
Framing current conditions as ‘crisis’ or projecting time itself as being ‘in crisis’ are prevailing sensibilities in much discourse about polycrisis in Europe and beyond. 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. The work packages focus on individual nodes of polycrisis in three regional settings: Eastern Europe (war and conflict), Mediterranean (economy), Scandinavia (migration), with shared research questions designed to aid comparison and comprehension. Empirically, the project highlights the diverse ways times of crisis are inhabited, methodologically it shows how times of crisis are expressed in art and literature, and theoretically it poses socio-philosophical questions concerning the temporal coordinates of crisis. Beyond the academy, activities will engage cooperation and associate partners at the National Museum of Denmark, EthnoFest, Open Society Archives, Post Bellum, Divadlo Feste, and the Slovene Ethnological Association.
KEYWORDS:
temporality, poly-crisis, economy, migration, war, conflict, memory, Europe.
CONSORTIUM
- Project Leader: Andreas Bandak, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
- Daniel Knight, University of St Andrews, United Kingdom
- Heath Cabot, 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, Institute of Ethnology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Czechia
ASSOCIATE PARTNERS
- Jiří Honzírek, Divadlo Feste, Czech Republic
- Marie Janoušková, Post Bellum, Czech Republic
- Tanja Roženbergar, Slovene Ethnological Society, Slovenia
- Morten Nielsen, National Museum of Denmark, Denmark
COOPERATION PARTERS
- Konstantinos Aivaliotis, Ethnofest director and co-founder, Greece
- Istvan Rev, Director, Open Society Archive, Hungary
ADVISORY BOARD
- Astrid Erll, Professor, Goethe University/Institute of English and American Studies, Germany
- Eelco Runia, author, cultural historian, psychologist, 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
ACHIEVEMENTS
- Achievements
At this stage, the TiCToC project is fully engaged in ethnographic fieldwork across the diverse locales encompassed by its Work Packages (WPs) and partner countries, marking a significant phase of empirical data collection and on-the-ground research activity.
The project team has established a series of formalised routines to support coordination and intellectual exchange, most notably through monthly online meetings. These meetings have been structured around rotating presentations of WP focus areas, enabling sustained cross-team engagement. In addition, the inclusion of external contributors has been initiated, further enriching the project’s interdisciplinary dialogue. For example, in February, Morten Nielsen (The National Museum of Denmark), an associate partner of the project, delivered a presentation exploring exhibitions as modes of research practice. This contribution generated substantive discussion within the team, particularly regarding the integration of alternative formats both in research design and in the dissemination of project outputs.
A number of related academic initiatives have also been developed within the framework of TiCToC. Andreas Bandak, in collaboration with the University of Copenhagen, has established the Copenhagen Conversations series, which operates in close connection with the project. The September 2025 edition of this series featured Tim Ingold and Jane Bennett, the latter serving on TiCToC’s advisory board. The public event, hosted at a museum venue, was fully subscribed, while a subsequent closed roundtable at the University of Copenhagen—chaired by Bandak—brought together sixteen scholars, including Daniel M. Knight, and was widely regarded as a significant success.
Project members continue to demonstrate strong research outputs and public engagement. Bandak has secured acceptance for a special issue of Ethnos, scheduled for publication in 2026, which will include a contribution by Knight. Knight’s work has also reached wider audiences through media engagement, including a feature interview in The Guardian addressing the theme of polycrisis. In terms of monographic publications, Knight has released a book in 2025 with a further volume forthcoming in early 2027. Katerina Kralowa has recently published a monograph, while Vlad Naumescu has a monograph scheduled for release in spring. Additionally, Bandak and Knight have formalised an agreement with Cornell University Press for an edited volume titled Time and Crisis, which will bring together leading scholars in the humanities and social theory.
Engagement with the project’s Advisory Board has also progressed. The team has conducted a series of interviews and dedicated sessions with members including Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht and Jane Bennett. Gumbrecht has visited the University of St Andrews, where he delivered a public lecture and participated in an interview conducted by Bandak and Knight. This material is being prepared for inclusion in a forthcoming edited volume associated with the project.
- News to be highlighted
The project has primarily conducted ethnographic fieldwork so far, but also established strong working routines and a reading group led by the post-docs in the project. The entire project will meet up in Scotland in March 2026 to discuss and learn from each other. Advisory board members Astrid Erll and Rebecca Bryant will join online for a session while the group is present.
Start date
1 March 2025
Project duration
36 months
Project budget
€ 1 497 381
Funding organisations
