Author: Cæcilie Svop Jensen

FoRe/Hope returns to DevDays 2026 with the workshop “Nurturing hope and resistance in the ruins”

Join FoRe/Hope for our upcoming workshop at the Development Days conference in Helsinki 26-27 February 2026. 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.

This year, 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, Development in ruins, hope in the cracks 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 participate in this collective exploration of hope and resistance. If you are planning to attend the conference, join us even if you have not signed up in advance, the workshop will be open for walk ins! Click here to register for the conference.

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