Popular in Sociology

Culture and Society

The City as a Growth Machine: Toward a Political Economy of Place

New York University Harvey Moltoch

Culture and Society

Carceral Entrapments: Views from the Prison/Street Interface in India

Indian Institute of Technology Delhi Mahuya Bandyopadhya

Culture and Society

Pre-problem families: predictive analytics and the future as the present

University of Southampton Rosalind Edwards

Ethnicity and Racism

Were Muslim Barbarians Really Knocking On the Gates of Ontario?

University of Ottawa Natasha Bakht

Culture and Society

Poor People’s Survival Strategies

The University of Texas at Austin Javier Auyero

Ethnicity and Racism

Sociology of Whiteness

Arizona State University Monica McDermott

Ethnicity and Racism

Narratives of Harm and the case for detention abolition

Queen's University Sharry Aiken

Transformative Resilience through Collective Action

View more insights in Social Sciences - Sociology - Social Identities and Divisions

View more figures from University of Toronto

View the page of Rupaleem Bhuyan

Read the Study

· Tools Cite Embed

Rupaleem Bhuyan discusses what resilience means from the perspectives of migrants living in the Greater Toronto Area

Image courtesy of interviewee. April 25, 2024

Log-in or Sign-up to Faculti
Currently viewing this subject insight as a guest. You have insight(s) remaining for this month.

Workspace

Faculti AI is thinking...

< >

Summary
Related Studies
Faculti AI
Key Points
Key Quotes
Translate
Transcript

Export as PDF

This video video is a transcript of a presentation discussing the concept of resilience, particularly in the context of social work and the experiences of migrants in Canada. The speaker expresses gratitude for the opportunity to speak and acknowledges the Indigenous territories they are situated on. They reflect on their own immigration background and the impact of colonialism, highlighting their ongoing commitment to Indigenous self-determination.

The speaker examines the concept of resilience, which traditionally emphasizes individual coping and overcoming challenges, often obscuring the systemic inequalities that contribute to those challenges. They critique how resilience is often framed in neoliberal contexts, placing responsibility on individuals rather than addressing structural issues.

Through a project focused on building migrant resilience in Toronto, the speaker analyzes how local and provincial governments use the term resilience in policy and education, often equating it with equity and inclusion efforts. However, there is a gap between recognizing systemic inequities and effective resource allocation to support those in need. The speaker emphasizes the importance of understanding resilience as multi-dimensional, involving individual, collective, and transformative aspects.

The presentation highlights grassroots actions taken by immigrant communities, particularly women, to support each other through mutual aid and advocacy. The speaker concludes by emphasizing the necessity of relationships and collaboration across community and governmental levels to enact meaningful change, arguing that true resilience involves addressing systemic inequalities and fostering collective empowerment rather than relying solely on individual self-sufficiency.

Language:

Export as PDF

X-TIMESTAMP-MAP:LOCAL=00:00:00.000,MPEGTS=900000

00:00.100 --> 00:00.990
Thank you for having me.

00:01.135 --> 00:03.785
It's a pleasure to be here. Thank you for the question.

00:04.085 --> 00:08.465
Um, before I begin, I, I wanted to honor the territories

00:08.465 --> 00:10.105
that I'm speaking to you from.

00:10.325 --> 00:12.745
I'm in a very rainy day here in

00:12.855 --> 00:14.505
what is now called Toronto Ontario,

00:15.285 --> 00:17.105
and I work at the University of Toronto,

00:17.155 --> 00:21.385
which sits on the territories of, the nee,

00:21.405 --> 00:22.945
the Huron Wenda, the Seneca,

00:23.005 --> 00:25.345
and the Mississaugas of the credit, who

00:25.365 --> 00:28.465
for many generations have been caretakers of this territory.

00:29.005 --> 00:33.825
And through a treaty with the British Crown in the 1820s,

00:34.125 --> 00:37.625
it became part of what became the later nation state

00:37.825 --> 00:42.105
of Canada and myself, who has family

00:42.135 --> 00:45.705
that originated in what is now called India, a territory

00:45.705 --> 00:50.385
that was also, governed under British Empire

00:50.645 --> 00:51.745
for many decades.

00:52.525 --> 00:56.305
Um, so my trajectory here is deeply intertwined

00:56.575 --> 00:58.625
with colonial presence on territories.

00:59.205 --> 01:02.705
And as an immigrant through the colonial nation of Canada,

01:03.365 --> 01:05.625
I'm constantly trying to understand my own role

01:06.165 --> 01:08.185
in supporting indigenous self-determination

01:08.185 --> 01:12.185
and sovereignty, both through the grassroots organizing

01:12.925 --> 01:15.145
and the incredible political advocacy within

01:15.765 --> 01:17.105
the systems that we have.

01:17.105 --> 01:20.305
Systems of governance, as well as through expressions of art

01:20.405 --> 01:22.985
and epistemology, some of which I hope

01:23.005 --> 01:25.065
to touch upon when I think about resilience.

01:25.805 --> 01:29.825
Um, so myself as someone who's situated in the university,

01:30.005 --> 01:33.865
but also working closely with many migrant communities

01:34.445 --> 01:37.465
in Toronto, in the United States where I grew up, as well

01:37.465 --> 01:39.625
as in regions of Eastern India.

01:39.725 --> 01:40.945
My family is from Assam.

01:41.915 --> 01:45.565
I've often wondered about how do we understand the capacity

01:45.565 --> 01:50.085
of individuals, so resilience to cope with, overcome

01:50.465 --> 01:54.405
and thrive, despite facing many systemic

01:55.005 --> 01:57.445
inequalities, barriers that might dehumanize them,

01:57.865 --> 02:00.365
but also deprive them from basic rights.

02:00.825 --> 02:03.925
Um, within the concept of social work, it is a concept

02:03.955 --> 02:06.165
that has been beholden for many decades

02:06.635 --> 02:10.605
because it offers a promise to work with individuals,

02:10.985 --> 02:12.125
groups, and communities.

02:12.125 --> 02:13.285
This is something social workers,

02:13.415 --> 02:16.565
especially in the North American context, do,

02:16.865 --> 02:19.205
to help them overcome many different kinds

02:19.205 --> 02:20.205
of intersecting harms.

02:20.205 --> 02:22.165
They might be through interpersonal challenges,

02:22.425 --> 02:25.645
but also the structural inequalities that produce inequality

02:25.705 --> 02:26.965
and then can be embodied

02:27.265 --> 02:29.485
and expressed through ill health,

02:29.485 --> 02:31.565
poverty and forms of violence.

02:32.555 --> 02:33.975
But at the same time, working

02:34.045 --> 02:37.535
with migrants in the Toronto region, especially those

02:37.595 --> 02:39.855
who have precarious status, who are undocumented

02:39.855 --> 02:42.295
or have a temporary status, the concept

02:42.355 --> 02:45.495
of resilience is often mobilized in ways that seems to

02:46.135 --> 02:48.535
download all of the responsibility to the individual.

02:49.315 --> 02:52.615
So in this project, with support from a partnership

02:52.845 --> 02:55.375
that was funded by the federal government,

02:55.375 --> 02:58.495
looking at building migrant resilience in cities,

02:59.545 --> 03:01.205
We sought to understand

03:01.705 --> 03:04.005
how is this concept being used in

03:04.005 --> 03:05.285
different levels of government.

03:05.625 --> 03:08.845
In this case, we started with the city of Toronto, as well

03:08.845 --> 03:10.165
as the province of Ontario.

03:10.675 --> 03:13.845
Looking at the policy documents, the policy discourse,

03:14.145 --> 03:17.765
and how these were used in public education campaigns in

03:17.765 --> 03:20.205
program development, specifically in the context

03:20.465 --> 03:23.485
of rapid growth population growth.

03:23.595 --> 03:26.525
It's primarily driven by immigrants in this region.

03:26.785 --> 03:30.645
To be honest, I was apprehensive to join a project

03:31.075 --> 03:33.285
that was constructed around the concept of resilience

03:33.285 --> 03:35.765
because of my wariness, of

03:35.765 --> 03:38.445
how it does fit into the neoliberal project

03:38.945 --> 03:40.285
of requiring individuals

03:40.285 --> 03:41.965
to be self-sufficient self-sustaining,

03:42.745 --> 03:44.765
and to moderate their needs

03:45.025 --> 03:48.525
and to make very limited demands on the regions around them.

03:49.145 --> 03:51.605
Um, that's a very dark view of resilience.

03:51.805 --> 03:53.125
I mean, who doesn't wanna be resilient?

03:53.205 --> 03:56.405
I wanna be resilient. I want the people I love

03:56.405 --> 03:58.045
and care for to be resilient,

03:58.425 --> 04:01.405
but I don't know what it means when a governing body

04:01.825 --> 04:04.285
or when a profession like social work is

04:04.285 --> 04:06.085
using resilience in that way.

04:06.865 --> 04:09.885
So I've been reading up on psychological definitions

04:09.885 --> 04:12.765
of resilience and the shift, especially in social work,

04:13.025 --> 04:16.485
but across disciplines to more social conceptualizations

04:16.485 --> 04:20.005
of resilience, by Eliana Juarez, Suarez

04:20.185 --> 04:21.485
and Michael Ungar.

04:21.815 --> 04:24.245
These are folks who are trying to look at the dynamic

04:24.795 --> 04:27.045
interplay between individuals

04:27.045 --> 04:29.205
and their environment, both their social environment,

04:29.205 --> 04:30.965
but also their ecological environment.

04:31.385 --> 04:35.365
So any one person or individual is not only recovering

04:35.745 --> 04:39.525
and coping, they're also exchanging resources, ideas,

04:40.145 --> 04:42.445
and transmitting visions of what could be

04:42.635 --> 04:45.365
through those social interactions in a very dynamic way.

04:45.785 --> 04:47.485
So thinking about resilience

04:47.625 --> 04:51.685
as this transformative social interplay, we, we took,

04:51.705 --> 04:54.765
we took up the concept of transformative resilience

04:55.185 --> 04:58.325
to see in what ways, one, the different municipal

04:58.585 --> 05:01.325
and provincial governments were mobilizing resilience,

05:01.815 --> 05:04.565
especially in the context of rapid population growth

05:05.305 --> 05:09.325
and the kind of interest in managing diversity,

05:09.455 --> 05:12.005
given the many different kinds of inequities

05:12.195 --> 05:16.805
that are layered by racial capitalism, systemic inequality,

05:17.315 --> 05:18.565
ongoing systemic racism.

05:18.905 --> 05:21.405
And as we see, especially in the period

05:21.545 --> 05:25.845
of ongoing war in Gaza, the anti-Islamic phobic,

05:26.325 --> 05:28.885
politics that can frame everyday interactions.

05:29.305 --> 05:34.005
So at the city level, we saw on the one hand this desire

05:34.185 --> 05:37.365
to identify subjects in need of resilience.

05:38.225 --> 05:39.715
This is a kind of typical policy.

05:40.415 --> 05:44.395
Um, policy aim is to understand who do we need

05:44.395 --> 05:47.155
to worry about and to construct the deserving,

05:47.615 --> 05:50.195
the more deserving in order to allocate resources.

05:50.495 --> 05:54.755
So we saw resilience often used almost interchangeably

05:54.865 --> 05:57.845
with equity discourse and diversity discourse

05:58.025 --> 05:59.205
and inclusion discourse.

05:59.785 --> 06:01.405
So as this kind of broad claim

06:01.515 --> 06:06.085
that we lay out a concern in the population for, especially

06:06.085 --> 06:07.725
for immigrants who are settling in Toronto,

06:07.945 --> 06:11.325
who may be experiencing intersecting systemic harms,

06:11.325 --> 06:14.285
because we want them to be included, we want

06:14.285 --> 06:15.445
to have equitable outcomes,

06:15.585 --> 06:16.965
and we want them to be resilient.

06:16.965 --> 06:19.165
So this is speaking from the city discourse.

06:19.475 --> 06:21.925
Similarly, at the provincial level, we saw,

06:21.925 --> 06:25.125
especially in institutes that are governing education

06:25.945 --> 06:27.605
and institutes that are governing health

06:27.625 --> 06:30.165
and mental health, especially amongst youth, was

06:30.165 --> 06:32.845
to use the concept of resilience to try to locate

06:33.385 --> 06:35.885
who are the people in need of resilience.

06:36.665 --> 06:38.525
On the one hand, there's this recognition

06:38.525 --> 06:41.965
that many migrants come already resilient, again,

06:41.965 --> 06:43.525
thinking in that psychological sense

06:43.675 --> 06:46.965
because they've overcome perhaps, of their refugees

06:46.985 --> 06:49.005
or forced migrants incredible hardships

06:49.095 --> 06:50.205
prior to coming to Canada.

06:50.905 --> 06:53.165
And also the process of settlement.

06:53.165 --> 06:56.725
People recognize as requiring a lot of resources,

06:57.055 --> 06:59.925
innovation, adaptability, these are all concepts.

06:59.935 --> 07:04.045
Again, that kind of echo this idea of individual resilience.

07:04.915 --> 07:07.375
So we have at the government level this need

07:07.375 --> 07:09.015
to identify who's in need of resilience

07:09.515 --> 07:12.615
and then also how to flood resources to spaces

07:12.995 --> 07:14.415
to support their resilience.

07:15.515 --> 07:17.735
All of these ideas seem really heartwarming.

07:17.735 --> 07:19.615
And actually, as I teach social work students,

07:20.135 --> 07:21.255
I started hearing more

07:21.255 --> 07:24.775
and more that they were using this language in their grants

07:24.925 --> 07:27.855
when they were applying for funds to support their programs,

07:27.915 --> 07:29.415
but they were working with adolescent youth

07:29.875 --> 07:32.215
who were experiencing gun violence, where they were working

07:32.215 --> 07:35.655
with mothers who are pregnant and trying to seek healthcare.

07:36.055 --> 07:37.775
Thinking about resilience in those

07:37.805 --> 07:39.535
ways seemed to make sense.

07:40.115 --> 07:42.535
At the same time, in the policy discourse,

07:42.915 --> 07:44.535
we definitely saw this disconnect

07:44.785 --> 07:47.095
where on the one hand there was an acknowledgement

07:47.095 --> 07:48.415
of systemic inequities

07:49.255 --> 07:50.875
and the need to identify people

07:51.015 --> 07:53.755
who may already have some capacity for resilience

07:54.095 --> 07:55.555
or are in need of resilience

07:56.175 --> 07:58.115
and thus need funding for programming.

07:58.495 --> 08:00.475
But at the program level, almost all

08:00.475 --> 08:02.435
of the resources really emphasized

08:02.855 --> 08:05.755
how can we get these individuals to be more resilient.

08:06.545 --> 08:09.635
They were not focused on making sure there's adequate

08:09.635 --> 08:13.635
housing or decent work or, or fair pay.

08:14.175 --> 08:16.555
Um, these are the kind of broad concerns

08:16.585 --> 08:20.395
that produce the need for resilience in a city like Toronto,

08:20.395 --> 08:22.635
which is incredibly wealthy and also has

08:22.635 --> 08:24.195
growing systemic inequality.

08:24.195 --> 08:28.075
Right now we have a huge housing crisis, partly

08:28.075 --> 08:32.755
because of the lack of, of, of building affordable housing,

08:32.755 --> 08:35.195
especially social housing funded by the government.

08:36.035 --> 08:37.655
And it is not a surprise

08:37.805 --> 08:40.415
that the public rhetoric now is turning

08:40.435 --> 08:43.055
to blaming immigrants as if they are the people

08:43.195 --> 08:44.815
who are causing the housing crisis

08:44.875 --> 08:46.735
and not the policy decision makers.

08:47.195 --> 08:49.855
So we, we saw the concept of resilience mobilize

08:50.315 --> 08:52.295
to really locate who's in need of resilience

08:52.435 --> 08:54.375
to worry about people who might need resilience,

08:54.755 --> 08:58.765
but also the failure of governments to reinforce

08:58.945 --> 09:01.285
and do that kind of social interaction piece

09:01.665 --> 09:04.205
to make sure the environments were actually conducive

09:04.745 --> 09:06.565
to living a decent life.

09:06.745 --> 09:08.525
You know, we're, we're still trying to play around

09:08.525 --> 09:11.645
with this concept, so we started noticing,

09:11.795 --> 09:14.605
various public education campaigns,

09:14.655 --> 09:16.765
especially prior to the pandemic.

09:16.985 --> 09:18.605
Um, I say that because the timing

09:19.185 --> 09:22.085
of the covid pandemic really shifted so many concerns.

09:22.145 --> 09:26.325
So in the years prior 20 18, 20 19, we saw,

09:26.535 --> 09:27.565
especially in the city

09:27.565 --> 09:31.005
of Toronto public education campaigns in partnership

09:31.035 --> 09:33.125
with community-based organizations

09:33.225 --> 09:34.845
who are supporting immigrant settlement,

09:34.845 --> 09:38.165
doing anti-racist work, specifically the Ontario Council

09:38.185 --> 09:42.125
for Agency serving immigrants, for example, really aiming to

09:43.195 --> 09:46.125
present a social responsibility

09:46.505 --> 09:50.245
for all the entire public to address systemic racism,

09:51.005 --> 09:55.845
Islamophobia, anti trans sentiment,

09:56.665 --> 10:01.045
the intersecting kind of inequalities through, yeah,

10:01.105 --> 10:02.365
as a civic responsibility.

10:02.825 --> 10:06.005
And they use the concept of resilience as a way

10:06.005 --> 10:08.485
to talk about the strength of diversity.

10:08.795 --> 10:11.525
This is a common motto in many,

10:11.525 --> 10:14.405
municipalities across Toronto, I'm sorry, across Canada,

10:14.435 --> 10:16.525
perhaps across East Western Europe as well.

10:16.875 --> 10:19.325
This idea that we have increasing ethnic racial

10:19.855 --> 10:24.605
faith diversity, and this can be a resource, a resource

10:24.605 --> 10:28.685
for ideas, a resource for just, you know, inter,

10:29.225 --> 10:30.645
inter-community benefit.

10:30.905 --> 10:32.965
It can also produce a lot of conflict.

10:33.505 --> 10:35.805
So this idea of resilience was to acknowledge

10:35.835 --> 10:38.245
that this incredible diversity might require each

10:38.245 --> 10:41.205
and every one of us to understand, to learn,

10:41.665 --> 10:43.285
and to even check our own biases.

10:43.905 --> 10:47.885
So the idea of civic resilience also is a wonderful idea.

10:48.145 --> 10:50.245
How can we each carry the responsibility

10:50.625 --> 10:53.285
to produce an equitable inclusive society?

10:54.225 --> 10:56.605
At the same time, similar to the rhetoric

10:56.605 --> 10:57.965
around individual resilience

10:57.995 --> 11:00.205
that we saw in program development for youth,

11:00.585 --> 11:03.365
for pregnant mothers, we saw the civic re

11:04.545 --> 11:06.885
responsibility also downloaded to the individual.

11:07.745 --> 11:11.405
So the resources that the city had was for public education,

11:11.405 --> 11:12.765
which I'm a big proponent of,

11:13.145 --> 11:14.885
but was not necessarily, again,

11:14.885 --> 11:17.085
to address those real systemic inequities.

11:17.625 --> 11:21.125
So we have grassroots organizations calling for decent work,

11:21.515 --> 11:22.965
calling for fair pay,

11:23.385 --> 11:26.565
and then as the pandemic hit, calling for access

11:26.585 --> 11:28.845
to those emergency funds that were available,

11:29.305 --> 11:30.365
but often excluded,

11:30.415 --> 11:34.125
especially racialized women working in part-time jobs

11:34.425 --> 11:38.325
who didn't have enough work hours to have, you know, seen

11:38.325 --> 11:41.565
as deserving of emergency funding during the pandemic.

11:42.025 --> 11:43.765
So you saw, again, this disconnect

11:43.875 --> 11:46.805
between the structural inequities that are producing

11:47.065 --> 11:49.765
so much inequality and actually fan a lot

11:49.765 --> 11:51.205
of intergroup conflict.

11:51.625 --> 11:55.725
Um, and then this kind of romantic idea of civic resilience

11:55.865 --> 11:57.805
and responsibility that individuals

11:57.805 --> 11:58.965
can take on on their own.

11:59.405 --> 12:02.765
I mean, I think at the political rhetoric side, there's

12:02.765 --> 12:04.045
so many things happening at once.

12:04.345 --> 12:06.565
So I don't, and I'm not a political scientist.

12:07.065 --> 12:09.965
Um, I do think that across Canada

12:10.385 --> 12:13.405
and I think in different regions of Western Europe,

12:13.525 --> 12:16.205
I know in my own region of Assam, they're trying

12:16.205 --> 12:20.685
to consider, multiculturalism a version of that

12:20.745 --> 12:24.125
as an antidote to the Hindu nationalism at ethno nationalism

12:24.315 --> 12:26.205
that frankly is prevailing right now.

12:26.785 --> 12:28.205
So certainly I don't think that

12:29.395 --> 12:31.725
promoting civic resilience is a bad thing,

12:32.055 --> 12:34.405
especially if the alternative is ethno racism.

12:35.385 --> 12:38.645
Um, I do worry about the,

12:40.155 --> 12:41.495
the lack of political will

12:42.195 --> 12:45.575
to address the fundamental producers of in inequity.

12:46.115 --> 12:48.295
So not providing decent wage,

12:48.555 --> 12:52.135
not providing affordable childcare, not providing,

12:52.635 --> 12:57.015
you know, like healthcare to people who are in emergency,

12:57.315 --> 12:58.415
response mode.

12:58.755 --> 13:02.215
Um, we have universal healthcare, of a kind in Canada,

13:02.555 --> 13:04.215
but it is still tied to your legal

13:04.215 --> 13:05.295
relationship to this state.

13:05.715 --> 13:07.815
So a growing number of people living in Canada

13:08.115 --> 13:10.175
who are migrants have a temporary work

13:10.175 --> 13:11.575
permit or study permit.

13:12.205 --> 13:13.855
They're very vulnerable

13:13.855 --> 13:15.415
because they're dependent on their employer

13:15.595 --> 13:16.615
or their education.

13:17.295 --> 13:18.295
I know if I have a student

13:18.325 --> 13:20.415
with who's an international study permit holder

13:20.835 --> 13:22.175
and they do badly on a grade

13:22.175 --> 13:26.295
and in graduate education, like they can't get below a 70%,

13:26.765 --> 13:27.975
they can lose their status

13:28.195 --> 13:30.655
and then be precarious in the country, and they may

13:30.655 --> 13:33.455
or may not have the resources even to return home quickly.

13:34.075 --> 13:36.695
Um, if a health crisis ensues in that moment,

13:36.965 --> 13:38.655
they're often left out in the cold.

13:38.915 --> 13:42.055
So we have a lot of social problems that are not going

13:42.055 --> 13:44.735
to be addressed just by the rhetoric of resilience.

13:45.315 --> 13:49.975
Um, on the other hand, I do hope for systemic change.

13:50.195 --> 13:52.095
We have grassroots movements really

13:52.095 --> 13:53.135
calling for these changes.

13:53.275 --> 13:57.575
The federal wage minimum wage did go up this last week on

13:57.575 --> 13:58.655
April 1st in Canada.

13:59.295 --> 14:00.975
I don't think it is yet a decent wage,

14:01.675 --> 14:04.535
but it did not happen without grassroots movement.

14:04.595 --> 14:07.095
So that's where I see the potential for resilience

14:07.755 --> 14:11.375
is in the mobilization from communities making demands

14:11.795 --> 14:15.575
and calling on the state to hear when they say

14:15.605 --> 14:17.135
that they're suffering in various ways.

14:17.345 --> 14:19.175
Thank you. Yes. So I'm so excited

14:19.175 --> 14:21.575
because when we were on this partnership grant,

14:21.935 --> 14:25.335
remember I said I was wary about a project that,

14:25.435 --> 14:27.655
was growing around the concept of resilience

14:27.955 --> 14:29.855
and one of our community partners at the time.

14:29.915 --> 14:31.295
So I'm based at a university

14:31.675 --> 14:32.855
and love working with folks

14:32.915 --> 14:34.975
who are based in community-based organizations.

14:35.515 --> 14:38.255
Um, and I think the, in this organization,

14:38.635 --> 14:41.455
access Alliance Multicultural Health Center, they're funded

14:41.475 --> 14:44.135
by the province to provide primary healthcare,

14:44.515 --> 14:47.655
but also do a lot of research, community-based research

14:47.875 --> 14:51.055
and, grassroots supports, especially to people who are,

14:51.120 --> 14:52.485
are uninsured,

14:52.615 --> 14:54.525
under the provincial health insurance plan.

14:55.185 --> 14:59.285
So one of the, my colleagues I'm looking at on my notes,

14:59.305 --> 15:03.125
so again, Shaki, who was at Access Alliance at the time,

15:03.225 --> 15:04.605
he proposed the idea

15:04.985 --> 15:06.885
of looking at transformative resilience.

15:07.425 --> 15:10.525
And he and I both had ongoing relationships

15:10.555 --> 15:14.005
with various migrant led community action organizations.

15:14.175 --> 15:17.325
These were very grassroots groups, some of which were able

15:17.325 --> 15:19.845
to tap into some public funds to deliver services,

15:20.305 --> 15:23.805
but were built on this amalgamation of mutual aid,

15:24.225 --> 15:27.645
direct service, advocacy and collective action.

15:28.305 --> 15:32.965
Um, all of these things became, to some extent, more visible

15:33.105 --> 15:34.805
during the pandemic, but we, again,

15:34.805 --> 15:36.485
we started this work in 2019.

15:37.305 --> 15:39.085
So through RA's partnership

15:39.085 --> 15:41.965
with the Tibetan community in Toronto, these are folks

15:42.025 --> 15:44.085
who are resettled often.

15:44.085 --> 15:45.925
For the third time in Canada,

15:46.515 --> 15:48.685
there's a small community living in the

15:48.755 --> 15:49.965
west side of Toronto.

15:50.395 --> 15:52.045
They're incredible organizers

15:52.045 --> 15:54.965
because of the intergenerational displacement

15:54.965 --> 15:56.805
and trauma of ongoing occupation

15:57.145 --> 16:00.245
and violence in Tibet by the Chinese, government.

16:00.905 --> 16:04.845
And as immigrants who had to come and flee, oftentimes

16:04.845 --> 16:06.685
because they were stateless people in India

16:06.705 --> 16:09.285
and Nepal, they, they came to Toronto

16:09.745 --> 16:14.205
to continue the ongoing struggle for freedom in Tibet

16:14.785 --> 16:17.605
and to hold the world accountable for failing

16:17.745 --> 16:19.285
to support their sovereignty

16:19.465 --> 16:22.085
and protect their rights to live on their territories.

16:22.825 --> 16:25.605
At the same time, they're experiencing many

16:25.605 --> 16:28.365
of the structural inequalities that I already mentioned,

16:28.365 --> 16:31.525
inability to find decent work, affordable housing,

16:31.755 --> 16:34.485
childcare, healthcare for their loved ones,

16:34.665 --> 16:36.445
and also working with the immigration system

16:36.445 --> 16:37.965
because many of their family members

16:38.065 --> 16:41.085
and community members who were stateless were unable

16:41.085 --> 16:43.045
to arrive as refugees

16:43.045 --> 16:45.765
because you need a passport to apply for refugee status.

16:46.505 --> 16:48.445
So they started mobilizing

16:48.465 --> 16:51.165
and doing what they've already been doing for generations,

16:51.225 --> 16:53.725
mutual aid, direct service,

16:54.165 --> 16:55.645
advocacy and collective action.

16:55.825 --> 16:57.485
Simultaneously, I was working

16:57.485 --> 17:00.325
with a grassroots organization on the east side

17:00.325 --> 17:03.365
of Toronto called the South Asian Women Rights Organization,

17:04.035 --> 17:07.965
primarily led by women coming from the region of Bangladesh.

17:08.355 --> 17:11.445
They arrived through Canada's economic immigrant program.

17:11.665 --> 17:13.845
So on paper, these are considered the most

17:13.845 --> 17:14.965
desirable immigrants.

17:14.965 --> 17:17.365
They have to pre-qualify based on their education,

17:17.375 --> 17:18.525
their work experience.

17:18.995 --> 17:21.605
Many of the women were accompanying their husbands

17:21.875 --> 17:25.005
because of the gender inequality they also experienced in

17:25.005 --> 17:27.645
their home region of Bangladesh,

17:28.065 --> 17:31.645
and yet they had incredible experience doing mutual aid,

17:31.665 --> 17:33.365
direct service and support in their home

17:33.365 --> 17:35.165
communities and collective actions.

17:35.225 --> 17:38.245
So they brought these knowledges to Canada

17:38.825 --> 17:39.885
and in the different spaces,

17:40.175 --> 17:43.205
these communities were struggling with systemic inequities,

17:43.705 --> 17:48.245
but also building strength in community by holding space

17:48.265 --> 17:49.965
for each other, understanding

17:49.985 --> 17:51.845
and witnessing each other's suffering,

17:52.305 --> 17:55.325
and again, providing those immediate resources.

17:55.425 --> 17:58.525
The mutual aid for childcare, the support defined

17:58.705 --> 18:02.445
as Sultana Jge would say that first job that you're,

18:02.905 --> 18:04.845
you're immediately qualified for, which

18:04.865 --> 18:07.645
for many racialized immigrant women from Bangladesh whose

18:07.645 --> 18:10.285
credentials, even if they have higher education,

18:10.385 --> 18:14.205
are not seen as useful in Canada, may have

18:14.205 --> 18:17.405
to get a really terrible job either in fast food

18:17.465 --> 18:18.765
or factory manufacturing,

18:18.815 --> 18:20.525
where they have very minimal rights.

18:20.925 --> 18:23.645
A lot of temp agencies are, you know,

18:24.565 --> 18:26.445
predator predatory in these communities.

18:26.465 --> 18:28.925
And these are kind of the just in time labor requirements

18:28.925 --> 18:31.405
where you might show up because they've asked you to show up

18:31.405 --> 18:33.285
for a shift and then they don't need you.

18:33.305 --> 18:35.565
So they don't pay you or they have you work

18:35.565 --> 18:36.645
and they still don't pay you.

18:36.985 --> 18:39.245
But without the labor protections, even though they are,

18:39.245 --> 18:41.325
they're in law without the resources

18:41.425 --> 18:43.085
to support their labor rights.

18:43.585 --> 18:45.645
So in these two communities, we saw

18:46.385 --> 18:47.765
all the different forms of resilience.

18:47.945 --> 18:50.885
We saw individual resilience, incredible capacity

18:50.885 --> 18:53.685
of individuals to overcome

18:54.315 --> 18:56.285
like insurmountable challenges

18:56.285 --> 18:58.325
through the trans national migration process

18:58.425 --> 19:00.645
and their own families dealing with family conflict,

19:00.655 --> 19:02.965
maybe family violence, dealing with poverty,

19:03.665 --> 19:06.405
and also the systemic inequities in the capitalist

19:06.405 --> 19:07.405
racialized market.

19:08.105 --> 19:11.285
We also saw the collective action, collective forms

19:11.285 --> 19:13.165
of resilience, people supporting each other

19:13.165 --> 19:16.085
through exchanging resources, exchanging knowledges.

19:16.355 --> 19:19.365
When the pandemic hit, there was this incredible way

19:19.365 --> 19:22.085
that the kind of intergenerational knowledge was tapped

19:22.175 --> 19:25.085
where the young people, not to say only young people know

19:25.225 --> 19:26.965
how to use the internet, but they were

19:26.965 --> 19:28.125
setting up the zoom calls.

19:28.435 --> 19:30.005
They were mobilizing social media,

19:30.465 --> 19:33.165
and then those with the language skills were taking those

19:33.165 --> 19:35.645
emergency respons bulletins from the federal government,

19:35.645 --> 19:37.445
which were only offered in English and French,

19:37.825 --> 19:40.365
and every night going on Zoom

19:40.425 --> 19:41.445
and translating them,

19:41.445 --> 19:43.725
interpreting them into multiple languages.

19:43.955 --> 19:46.165
This was incredible form of community resilience.

19:46.825 --> 19:49.325
But the transformative part is the part

19:49.325 --> 19:52.045
that I think is almost the secret ingredient

19:52.095 --> 19:53.485
where the magic is happening.

19:53.995 --> 19:55.485
This is that vision of the world

19:55.715 --> 19:59.285
that the communities are creating that doesn't yet exist,

20:00.035 --> 20:03.445
that vision of Canada, that is not yet fully equitable,

20:03.445 --> 20:05.445
that's not living up to its liberal principles

20:05.445 --> 20:07.885
of human rights and self-determination

20:07.985 --> 20:09.805
and respect for human dignity.

20:10.465 --> 20:13.125
So they look at these words on paper in the municipal

20:13.125 --> 20:14.325
government, in the provincial government,

20:14.325 --> 20:17.685
in the federal government, and they challenge all of us

20:18.025 --> 20:19.925
to make them more real than they currently are.

20:20.225 --> 20:22.045
So this is that transformative piece

20:22.315 --> 20:24.725
that we really learned from the migrant organizers

20:25.115 --> 20:27.805
that is currently missing, I think, in public rhetoric

20:28.105 --> 20:32.805
and would love to see more of this, sharing of resources

20:33.025 --> 20:35.965
so that we can meet these full, the full potential

20:36.085 --> 20:37.205
of these grand ideas.

20:37.725 --> 20:40.085
I mean, I think in the neoliberal era that we're in,

20:40.215 --> 20:44.765
especially in this era where the media as well

20:44.765 --> 20:46.805
as political rhetoric is increasingly governed

20:47.225 --> 20:50.245
By private capital, I'm always wary

20:50.385 --> 20:52.525
of even the best concepts

20:52.625 --> 20:54.085
as they're mobilized in these spaces.

20:54.945 --> 20:58.605
Um, so I don't want to put my investment in any one idea,

20:59.105 --> 21:01.125
rather, I think it's gonna be through relationships.

21:01.185 --> 21:02.205
And again, this is something

21:02.205 --> 21:04.245
that I'm learning from indigenous communities

21:04.825 --> 21:06.285
who are struggling

21:06.345 --> 21:10.085
and promoting indigenous knowledges that have been held

21:10.105 --> 21:13.725
for generations, but often are not seen as, as credible.

21:14.345 --> 21:18.125
So building these relationships in community across these

21:18.125 --> 21:19.405
different sectors so

21:19.405 --> 21:22.085
that the grassroots community leaders are sitting at the

21:22.085 --> 21:25.405
table and are held into account by their community,

21:25.665 --> 21:28.325
but also are, have the resources

21:28.345 --> 21:31.125
to hold their state representatives to account.

21:31.605 --> 21:33.925
I think it's through that collective struggle

21:34.465 --> 21:36.245
across the different levels of power

21:36.435 --> 21:37.925
that we're gonna see meaningful change.

21:37.925 --> 21:39.005
Whether it's through the concept

21:39.005 --> 21:41.925
of resilience at an individual collectives, social

21:42.505 --> 21:43.685
or transformative level,

21:44.205 --> 21:46.405
I don't think it'll be meaningful just through rhetoric.

21:46.675 --> 21:49.125
It's going to have to happen through these relationships,

21:49.235 --> 21:50.445
through working together

21:50.705 --> 21:53.325
and tackling some of these intractable problems

21:53.665 --> 21:55.605
to bring about a vision of change

21:55.605 --> 21:58.085
that hopefully will benefit all I.

Faculti AI can make mistakes