Hope in the context of citizenship and statelessness Abdul Kalam Azad, Maureen Grant and Jacqui McKenzie

Join Abdul Kalam Azad (Virjie University) former visiting fellow at University of York CAHR, Maureen Grant former Assistant Trust Secretary at Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust and Jacqui McKenzie (Partner- Leigh Day) as they discuss the concept of 'Hope' in the context of Citizenship Deprivation and Statelessness. This insightful event will feature a discussion with individuals who work on, and some who have experienced, citizenship deprivation in Assam and Britain. The panel event will be followed by a Q and A where you can ask our speakers questions about their presentations and their conceptualisations of 'Hope' in the terrifying contexts of Citizenship Deprivation and statelessness. 

Hope matters. Its significance is particularly poignant during the present moment of uncertainty, during which narratives of multiple and overlapping crises abound. Humans and non-humans encounter one another in extraordinary ways. Automation disrupts the economies of labour with which we are familiar. Artificial intelligence challenges recognisable forms of human personhood. Climate change endangers the lives and livelihoods of millions of people. Unprecedented prosperity coexists with growing inequality. Religious and ethnic polarisation jeopardises the hard-won gains by movements for social justice in recent decades. Democracies across the world face erosions. Just when we thought things couldn’t get any worse, the COVID19 pandemic struck, changing our world in ways that few other events in recent memory have. As fear, anxiety, hatred and disappointment loom, it is easy to lose sight of the possibilities offered by hope.

Yet, hope has never been more important. 

Under the aegis of the York Hope Consortium, we are convening an online Symposium Series on ‘Hope and Social Change’. Join us on the 4th March at 5pm [zoom] for the latest instalment of the series 'Hope in the Context of Citizenship Deprivation and Statelessness'. Follow our Twitter and YouTube Channel for more!