Everyday emergency: crisis, unease and strategy in contemporary political discourse

Contemporary politics is marked by a proliferation of crises and crisis narratives. This article focuses, however, not on discrete crisis narratives but on an important characteristic of contemporary politics: a sense of constant crisis and a related sense of pervasive unease and anxiety. Drawing on the notions of the governmentality of unease and of the discourse of strategy, the article argues that diverse actors construct a narrative of constant crisis in order to affirm their status and legitimacy as the providers of necessary protection. This sense of constant crisis serves to legitimate certain actors, naturalize certain policy responses and normalize certain social outcomes. It operates by acting on the subjectivities of individuals, which are seen as structured not just through rational calculation but also – and importantly – through fear, anxiety and unease in the face of this constant crisis.