Haptic touches in COVID-19 times: reaching and relating in the archives

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has touched upon every aspect of human experience. This article examines the shifted relationalities between research objects and fieldwork as a consequence of the pandemic. Following a psychosocial research project on the archives on queer and feminist mobilisations in Greece between 1978 and 1993, which employs ‘the haptic’ as a methodological tool, the article outlines haptic occurrences in COVID-19 times. Taking into account archival intricacies, the reflective practices of the psychosocial as well as fieldwork notes prior to and during the pandemic, the article illustrates how new ethics of touch are ascribed in current psychosocial research practices. Ultimately, the article shows how haptic archival connections – even through the restricted physical presence of sensoria – allow textual, physical and affective movements to resist and still resurface.