Making Sense of Archives: An Introduction

Abstract This introduction to the thematic section “Making Sense of Archives” explores different archival terrains in Southeastern Europe. It discusses politics storage against background processes professionalization field, provenance funding for both storing and digitalizing collections, chronic lack personnel. The author makes a plea critical engagement with spaces by explicating logics archiving documents kinds dimensions power immanent them. Moreover, she argues that scholars need reflect more critically on archivists’ mediating interventions, including appraisal, arrangement, processing, description as necessary complement applied source criticism. Lastly, locates section’s contributions within broader themes knowledge management blind spots archives, turn, potentials pitfalls visual study artefacts.