Suspicious Surfaces and Affective Mistrust in the South Caucasus

Abstract

This article builds on ethnographic vignettes of mistrust, with the material stemming from the South Caucasus. Although mistrust has recently gained attention as a phenomenon sui generis, the impact of objects on the stirring of mistrust has been largely overlooked. The present article intends to fill this lacuna by investigating how certain objects are met with mistrust because their (material or discursive) surfaces and their contents seem inconsistent. The affective response to this perceived mismatch may be articulated in frustration or anger, but also in humor or longing. With respect to longing, I elaborate how this emotion stimulates searches for hidden truths that can be found in the realm of conspiracy theory.