Performing a crisis: Institutional politics and the construction of (ir)responsibility

Abstract

The article adopts a performative perspective to examine how tangible spaces are produced through publicly contrived performances, with the intention of shaping organizational practices, mindsets and politics. We focused on the deliberate and consensual production of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) as a crisis zone—one that is ruled by turbulence and uncertainty. Severe shortage of funds and a public policy of abstention turned the NICU into a liminal space. Consequently, a new domain for the operation of power came into existence—one where life is put ‘in question’ and can be both protected and eliminated. By way of paradox, operating under a continuing state of emergency created degrees of freedom for all involved, especially regarding the outcomes of care.