School of Social and Political Science

Description

Carrying Tomorrow: Hope in Exile and the Will to Begin Again

In a world fractured by conflict, climate change, and growing hostility towards displaced peoples, refugee lives are often narrated through a lens of crisis and despair. But behind the headlines and across the borders, another story unfolds — one of fierce resilience, quiet resistance, and the will to begin again.

With a depth of understanding forged in dialogue, not distance, Professor George Palattiyil draws from years of work across refugee contexts to offer his professorial lecture anchored in human dignity and political courage. This is not a story of despair — but of determination, defiance, and hope.

Rather than recounting only loss, this lecture invites us to understand exile as a site of meaning-making. Refugees do not simply survive; they resist erasure, reimagine the future, and teach us what it means to carry hope beyond borders. In Jordan, girls navigating early marriage still dream of classrooms. In Uganda, young women find ways to survive with dignity amid hunger and displacement. In Scotland, asylum seekers living with HIV fight for visibility, care, and inclusion. These are not isolated acts of resilience — they are lessons in human possibility.

At the heart of this lecture is a simple yet poignant message: refugees are not only survivors — they are teachers, visionaries, and carriers of tomorrow. Their voices challenge how we understand belonging, policy, and justice. As the world grows more fragmented, this lecture contends that exile is no longer the experience of a distant few — it is a possibility for anyone of us. It is the defining question of our time.

With clarity and compassion, George invites us to rethink exile — not merely as a legal category, but as a human condition shaped by uncertainty, endurance, and the unyielding search for safety and meaning. Through the lives of refugees, we are called to listen again: to the fragile threshold between hope and despair, and to the responsibility of those who remain sheltered from displacement.

This is a lecture that refuses despair. It asks how we — as social workers, scholars, and fellow human beings — might respond differently. And what we might learn from those who have lost so much, yet still refuse to let go of tomorrow.

It is a call to listen more deeply, act more justly, and recognise hope not as a luxury — but as a moral and political imperative.

And the question that remains — the one we must carry with us — is this: If they are carrying tomorrow, what are we doing with today?

Please note that this lecture might be filmed.

Venue: Meadows Lecture Theatre, Doorway 4, Medical School Teviot Place, Edinburgh EH8 9AG.

Timings: 5.15-6.30pm: Lecture

Followed by a reception until 19.30.