FORE/HOPE workshop @ DevDays25

FoRE/HOPE Workshop @ DevDays2025

by bram News

Join FORE/HOPE in our first workshop at the DevDays25 Conference, 27-28 February 2025!

FORE/HOPE is arranging a workshop on hope and resistance, as part of the Development Days Conference 2025: Development transitions amidst waste, wars and maldevelopment.

WHAT? Workshop: Reflections on hope and resistance in times of ‘un-ness’ (working group 8) at the Development Days Conference 2025

WHEN? 27-28 February 2025 (the exact time and date will be announced later)

WHERE? University of Helsinki, Main building (the exact room will be shared with registered participants)

Please Note: To be able to join the workshop, you need to sign up for the Development Days Conference (27-28.2.2025). Registration will open in January 2025. Please follow updates at the Conference website: https://www.kehitystutkimus.fi/conference/

Workshop description and sign-up information:

“Reflections on hope and resistance in times of ‘un-ness’”

What can hope and resistance teach us about social change? In the context of waste, wars and maldevelopment, there is a need to reflect on forms of resistance and practices of hope in everyday life. We live today in what Aradau (2014) describes as a contemporary era of ‘un-ness’ – uncertainty, unpredictability and unknowability which affects how people resist and hope. While resistance and practices of hope have the potential to drive social change, their forms and impacts remain underexplored. In this explorative workshop we invite participants to reflect on the concepts of hope and resistance as a source of knowledge and their potential to challenge excluding oppressive and exploitative structures and situations of violence, war and discrimination. We believe that these aspirations hold the potential to transform hope into (political) agency. Resistance and hope are sources of social change that can positively influence individuals and communities.

In conjunction with DevDays25 Conference, this workshop aims to foster dialogue and interaction around the following question: How do different forms of resistance and practices of hope intersect during these uncertain and challenging times? Workshop participants will have the opportunity to share their experiences and reflect on how human interactions serve as an intersection of resistance and hope.

The goal of the workshop is to facilitate collaborative learning and co-create knowledge on these themes, drawing from diverse perspectives. The workshop is discussion-based and does not accept formal paper submissions. Instead, we encourage active participation from individuals interested in co-learning, discussion and reflection on these critical topics.

To sign up for the workshop, all you have to do is email [email protected].

No paper submissions

FoRE/HOPE Kick-off

by bram News

On October 24, 2024, we hosted the official kick-off presentation for the FoRE/HOPE project at Tampere University, an ambitious interdisciplinary project focused on exploring the powerful relationship between resistance and hope as drivers of social change. The research team, comprised of scholars and practitioners from various fields, shared their planned contributions to this multi-year project, which aims to uncover how everyday resistance and hope can help us better understand social change in the face of growing authoritarianism and social exclusion. 

At the heart of the FoRE/HOPE project (Forms of Resistance & Practices of Hope) is the question: What can everyday resistance and hope teach us about social change? In a world where many people face oppressive structures, violence, and exclusion in their everyday lives, it becomes crucial to understand how they navigate these experiences. Resistance and hope are deeply intertwined, with each shaping and sustaining the other. By analyzing these practices, the project seeks to provide valuable insights into how individuals and communities resist and foster hope in challenging conditions. 

Through an ambitious and interdisciplinary research design, the project brings together case studies from different regions: Finland, Palestine, Iran, and Mexico. These diverse empirical contexts offer a unique opportunity to explore and theorize the interrelation between various forms of resistance and practices of hope, taking into account factors such as temporality, spatiality, and the positionality of individuals. By combining different cases, FoRE/HOPE aims to gain nuanced and unprecedented insights into the everyday dimensions of resistance and hope. 

The project’s strength lies in this combination of global perspectives, allowing for a more comprehensive understanding of how hope and resistance manifest across different social and political environments. This will not only enrich academic theories but also have practical implications for social change efforts worldwide. 

FoRE/HOPE also plans several key outcomes, including this website which will offer open access to written and visual materials that will serve as a repository of resistance and hope. Additionally, the project will produce peer reviewed articles, an edited book, a theatre play, a public event featuring a photo exhibition, all aimed at engaging both academic audiences and the general public. 

Each member of the research team brings a distinct perspective to the project, reflecting their diverse academic and professional backgrounds. Together, we will explore how resistance and hope emerge, thrive, and interact within different cultural and political contexts. You can learn more about our individual contributions here. 

We are looking forward to the next steps! 

Oh, there was cake.