Ways out of the Crisis: Mapping Possibility Spaces

The silver lining of every crisis rests in the possibilities bundled with it. The question is how exactly we can disentangle these possibilities and turn moments of crisis into opportunities to think and act differently. This chapter offers a sociocultural perspective on crises and possibility that focuses our attention on differences of position and perspective between people who agentically move through socio-material, cultural, and political worlds. To better understand how individuals and collectives explore the possible when faced with a crisis, the Possibility Spaces Framework (PSF) is proposed based on two axes: number of perspectives (narrow vs. wide) and degree of elaboration (thin vs. thick). The four resulting quadrants are illustrated with the help of three short case studies: micro-crises in Romanian egg decoration practices, macro-crises in pandemic-related Internet memes, and meso-crises in social mobilization practices in Colombia. In the end, it is argued that our engagement with the possible in contexts of crises and ruptures needs strong ethics, one that can help us equally recognize the dignity, humanity, and possibility of self, others, and society.