Liveability and Future Building: Before, During and After Displacement
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About the talk
Refugees are frequently defined by their moment of displacement or the period shortly thereafter, often through a unidimensional victim or villain lens. Critical Refugee Studies redefines refugees, moving away from the hyperfocus on the short-term refugee body as a problem to be solved (often by global elites) to agentic actors who hold subjectivities and knowledges that expose root causes of displacement in the first place. Through practical examples in her work in research, praxis and advocacy, Pak illustrates how these knowledges also expose systemic edges and barriers; as well as navigational paths that can inform present and future building. Pak draws from her work at the intersection of Critical Refugee Studies and liberatory education, as well as her personal experiences as someone who identifies as a child of refugees. At this time when immigrants and refugees are facing a growing barrage of vindictive assaults by the federal administration in the United States, she provides a framework that uplifts the knowledges generated before, during and after displacement in order to enhance liveability and move towards future building.
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