Paper short abstract:

In this presentation, I explore the potential of an epistemic otherwise, which does not settle for a point, and instead plays with a puzzle.

Paper long abstract:

Ethnographic research allows researchers to immerse in the now and be surprised by whatever pops up. As we stumble upon puzzles, assumptions are challenged and, thus, curiosity is triggered. Following up on them, we look for clues which might help us solve them and in this very process, the actual puzzle gets lost. But what if we were indifferent to the solution of a puzzle and much more interested in maintaining and cultivating what is puzzling to us? This is what I do in this presentation.

By way of imagining reciprocal connections beyond collaboration and resistance in research, Keguro Macharia (2016) points out his admiration for waywardness, which is very often „a stubborn refusal to come to the point“. Inspired by this particular notion, I map out a few wayward moments from the field, i.e. a family courtyard in Bamako, Mali, a multipurpose venue in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, an interdisciplinary workshop on the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) in Accra, Ghana and a desk or two in the city of Leipzig, Germany. In doing so, I explore the potential of an epistemic otherwise, which does not settle for a point, and instead plays with the puzzle.