S2 E3 How do protest and resistance make citizens and citizenship?

Over the past few years, international media has been full of reports of protest among them the global Black Lives matter protests, the uprisings in Hong Kong, and Extinction Rebellion. Beyond these social movements, we have seen community action aimed at resisting immigration raids and standing up for trans- and migrant rights among others. These acts of resistance and protest reveal another side to citizenship, where those not granted rights take matters into their own hands and claim their right to claim in their struggles against injustice. 

In this episode, we consider citizenship through a lens onto resistance and protest. Presenter Michaela Benson introduces the idea of citizenship as a site struggle, as always in the making. Podcast researcher George Kalivis reflects on recent protests in London. And we’re joined by Engin Isin, Professor in International Politics at Queen Mary University of London, to explain what acts of citizenship are and the potential of these to challenge dominant framings of who counts as a citizen through examples that include Rosa Parks, Tiananmen Square and the Windrush Deportation Scandal 

You can access the full transcripts for each episode over on the Rebordering Britain and Britons after Brexit website. 

 

In this episode we cover … 

1 Acts of citizenship and citizenship struggles

2 Resistance, protest and social movement

3 Rosa Parks, Tiananmen Square and the Windrush Deportation Scandal

 

Quote 

As long as there was notion of citizenship or some form of the dominant virtue of a dominant person, there was resistance to it, there was never a moment where the alternative of citizens just dropped arms and stopped resisting it, it's impossible to think so that resistance itself is, is hope, but also inspiration. — Engin Isin

Where can you find out more about the topics in today’s episode?

Find out more about Engin and his work on citizenship here

We particularly recommend his work on acts of citizenship and the activist citizen

Visit the journal Citizenship Studies

George consulted the 11 June 2002 report in The Observer about resistance to immigration raids in Peckham

Listen to Étienne Balibar talk about the unfinished history of citizenship here

 

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