Emergent Conversation 25

Commissioned and Edited by Sana Malik

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Woman wearing saree and a Covid-protective mask and lighting fire crackers during Diwali festival on street. Photo by Getty.

How does one write about hope, let alone feel hopeful, in the midst of ongoing crises, genocidal violence, climate change, and relentless indeterminacies that mediate our day-to-day lives in the current moment? This series attends to narratives of hope and joyful determination from across the Global South, from people modelling a critical willingness to keep going despite the challenges and oppressions of our times (Ahmed 2017), and as a foil to romanticized notions of hope and resilience that abound in mainstream media. Attending to the indeterminacies of everyday life in the Global South, this series explores how avenues of well-being, hope, and community are made, remade, and lost in moments of indeterminacy.

Introduction

Sana Malik

 

 

 

 

 

The Certainty of Legal Labor: Meliorist Legalism and Endurant Hope in Hindu Nationalist India

Sandhya Fuchs

 

 

 

Bonds of Kinship and Women’s Lives Inside Sheikhupura District Jail

Angbeen Atif Mirza

 

 

 

 

Pivots as Praxis in Unsettled Times

Rachel Rinaldo

 

 

 

 

 

Mothers in the Middle: Exploring Female Friendships in Urban Pakistan

Sana Malik

 

 

 

 

Sana Malik received her PhD in Anthropology from Emory University in 2025. Her research explores the diverse political trajectories of feminist and non-feminist activists participating in Pakistan’s emerging public spheres. As a PoLAR Digital Editorial Fellow, Sana curated an Emergent Conversation on “First Responders: Crises, Indeterminacies and (Joyful) Determination in the Global South” that highlights narratives of how people make everyday life livable amidst ongoing indeterminacies in the Global South.