Workshop: Nurturing Hope and Resistance in the Ruins

Coordinators: Bayan Arouri, Ebru Sevik, Meeri Tiensuu, Caecilie Svop Jensen

This workshop builds on last year’s DevDays workshop, which invited reflections on the
entanglements of hope(lessness) and resistance and what they teach us about social
change. The session generated critical insights into the politics of hope, how acts of
resistance and hope reinforce and challenge each other, and what sustains hope in
everyday life. Over the past year, these reflections have only grown more relevant amid
ongoing climate emergencies, genocide, militarization, inequality, extractive capitalism,
and authoritarianism.

Aligned with this year’s conference theme, our workshop seeks to explore pathways for
reimagining futures grounded in care, solidarity, and justice. Central to this exploration is
the transformative potential of interrogating the relationship between resistance and
hope. Both are vital sources of social change, capable of inspiring individuals and
communities to challenge exclusionary and authoritarian structures and systems.
Examining the political agency of hope alongside resistance enables critical reflection on
how power structures are (re)made and (re)imagined in contexts of violence and
oppression. We contend that hope and resistance are deeply intertwined in shaping the
present through visions of the future, forming vital starting points for imagining and
working toward more just worlds.

Aligned with the DevDays26 theme, the workshop will center on the question: How do
different forms of resistance and practices of hope intersect, and how can we nurture
social change amidst the ruins?

We invite participants to reflect on these intersections, focusing on their potential to
enable social transformation. Scholars, practitioners, and all those committed to
imagining and enacting more just futures are welcome to join this collective exploration
of hope and resistance. The format is informal and open, and the team will prepare
questions and activities for joint reflections. The workshop is discussion-based and
does not accept formal paper submissions. Instead, it fosters active participation and
co-learning. Facilitated by Forms of Resistance & Practices of Hope (FoRE/HOPE),
Tampere University.

To participate, send an email to bayan.arouri@tuni.fi and caecilie.svopjensen@tuni.fi. Please be aware that the workshop is in-person only, and there is no abstract submission.