Rethinking Exile

On fractured lives and the capacity of beginning anew

About this event

12 May 2026. 14:00-18:00
CRAASH, University of Cambridge
SG1, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road, Cambridge CB3 9DP

The Hannah Arendt Consortium is pleased to highlight a forthcoming CRASSH 25th Anniversary symposium, Rethinking Exile: On Fractured Lives and “the capacity of beginning anew”, convened by Consortium members and engaging directly with Arendt’s reflections on exile and natality to explore fractured lives, knowledge, and political responsibility in a world shaped by war, displacement, and crisis.

The symposium brings together scholars, artists, and practitioners to explore exile as both a lived condition and a metaphor for the fractures shaping modern intellectual and political life. The symposium examines how displacement – whether through conflict, authoritarianism, economic recession, or broader societal upheavals – interrupts the pursuit of knowledge, and existential or intellectual trajectories. These fractured trajectories unsettle institutions and reconfigure publics, raising urgent questions about how knowledge is created, mobilised, and valued. Drawing on Hannah Arendt’s concept of natality and Edward Said’s reflections on intellectual exile, the event invites participants to interrogate whether these frameworks remain adequate in a world shaped by post-truth politics, digital disruption, and shifting geopolitical imaginaries. Through interdisciplinary panels, creative provocations, and a participatory discussion, the symposium explores how fractured lives may generate new forms of knowledge, new publics, and new beginnings.

Convened by

  • Zeina Al Azmeh (Department of Sociology, University of Cambridge)
  • Patrick Baert (Department of Sociology; Selwyn College, University of Cambridge)
  • Jo-Anne Dillabough (Faculty of Education; Hannah Arendt Consortium, University of Cambridge)
  • Frisbee Sheffield (Faculty of Classics, University of Cambridge)
  • Lauren Wilcox (Centre for Gender Studies, Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Cambridge)

Register

To register, visit: https://www.crassh.cam.ac.uk/events/49556/