On the banality of wilful blindness: Ignorance and affect in extractive encounters

Abstract

Research on strategic ignorance tends to focus on the deliberate manufacture of non-knowledge as a tool of governance. In contrast, this article highlights the ‘banal’ workings of wilful blindness, how it can become a normalised part of corporate routine. It examines the diverse dynamics of wilful blindness that became visible in the planning and implementation of a mega oil development project in Timor-Leste, including spatial distancing, denial of moral implications, and the production of effervescent moments of collective solidarity. It concludes that affective states are key in the normalisation of wilful blindness, which operates at the unstable boundary between intention and affect. An emphasis on wilful blindness helps us to bridge the gap between political economy approaches that emphasise the disruptive impact of resource abundance, on the one hand, and anthropological approaches that highlight the social logics and ethical evaluations of main actors involved, on the other.