UMass Amherst Resistance Studies Initiative

The Resistance Studies Initiative strives to understand the dynamic relations among forms of resistance and power and how they relate to social change.

It particularly considers the possibilities and problems, causes and impacts, and lived experiences of unarmed resisters, including those who live in dictatorships or nations under occupation as well as those who suffer discrimination and repression within liberal democracies. As we define it, resistance challenges all forms of domination—not just “the state,” but capitalism’s exploitative practic

es (economic injustices, commodification, alienation, and fetishism), the status quo’s discursive truth-regimes and normative orders, and sociocultural patriarchal hierarchies of gender, race, status, caste, and taste. In resisting any of these, activists question, challenge, and undermine not only the state, but power as such. The Resistance Studies Initiative will cover unarmed resistance in the broadest sense, considering all means and techniques in all of their manifestations, mechanisms, techniques, and dynamics, and in all of their historical, cultural, and political contexts. We are especially interested in culturally creative forms of resistance, those that are humorous, surprising, and innovative, and tap technology in order to mobilize people in greater numbers than might attend any one event. To effectively resist in ways that foster social change and ever-expanding human liberation, we need to learn from previous and ongoing struggles all over the world. We need to accrue resistance knowledge. We need to understand how power and resistance interact and how they factor in the struggle for social change. No systematic, collective knowledge can be developed on how power and resistance shape social change without broad communications between disciplinary traditions and collaborations that move beyond established mono-disciplinary frameworks to develop new concepts, models, theories, and claims. We hope ultimately to see a new academic mobilization in which social scientists assist those social forces that “from below” work to increase human liberation—a mobilization in which, by creating a liberationist social science, we no longer provide management knowledge for state authoritarianism and biopower, corporate marketing, the military death machine, and state terror-driven counterinsurgencies. We hope to encourage solidarity and dialogue between academics and activists, merging the comparative, critical, and empirical social science developed by engaged academics with the experience-based, practical knowledge so hard won by activists.

06/15/2026

A call to action to support a collague hired to advance your Truth and Reconciliation commitments and then targeted for doing the job. Protect the role of Indigenous scholars in decolonisation through education and research. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfhQiKaR3v-vKx9q3cB92r4fYvj1bkRKAKCCp6pRDzthgsiEw/viewform

06/14/2026

We are at only 5 days to the Conference!! We are pleased to announce that we will be displaying the exhibition 'Why We Record: Defying Fragmentation and Erasure in Palestine' curated by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and Visualizing Palestine (VP).

The exhibition brings together Visualizing Palestine's striking data visuals, AFSC's photographs, and excerpts from published stories. It bears witness to the injustices Palestinians face daily — and to the storytellers and journalists who, increasingly targeted for recording the truth, refuse to be silenced.
The work is organised around three themes: displacement, fragmentation, and return and future visioning.
On display: Throughout the conference (18–21 June) · Campus Center Auditorium

There will be a related session which will be FREE and open to the public, so you are welcome to come along, view the ehibition and hear about it!
Data Storytelling in Palestine Solidarity Work: Art and Activism for Countering Repression
Saturday 20 June · 10:30am – 12:00pm · Auditorium
With Maura James, Wesam Ahmed, Jennifer Bing and Zoe Jannuzi (

05/27/2026

The Conference is coming soo soon! We have 5 keynote sessions over four days with experiences scholar activists. Check them out here: https://resistance-journal.org/resistance-studies-conference/conference-speakers/ And don't forget to register and bring your friends, collegues...

Resistance from Below: Women Workers, Labour, and Everyday Struggles in Contemporary India - Journal of Resistance Studies

05/07/2026

What does resistance look like for Dalit and Adivasi women workers in India's tea gardens, brick kilns, and domestic workplaces — spaces that rarely make it into formal labour politics?
Join us May 20 for a another free pre-conference webinar bringing together activists, researchers, and organisers directly engaged with these struggles.
🗓 May 20 · 10:00 AM EDT / 8:30 PM IST 👉 Register at the link to get your Zoom link — free and open to all: resistance-journal.org/event/resistance-from-below-women-workers-labour-and-everyday-struggles-in-contemporary-india/
Moderated by Madhuresh Kumar (AFSEE Fellow, UMass Amherst), with speakers Sunita Chauhan (DASAM), Ruby Hembrom (adivaani / AFSEE Fellow), and Lokesh (CEC New Delhi).
Research supported by the Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity (AFSEE).
Live Hindi–English interpretation · 90 min · Recording shared with registrants

Resistance from Below: Women Workers, Labour, and Everyday Struggles in Contemporary India - Journal of Resistance Studies This webinar will focus on the lived experiences, organising practices, and everyday forms of resistance of Dalit and Adivasi women workers in India. It will pay particular attention to workers in sanitation, domestic work, the garment sector, brick kilns, and tea gardens. The session is envisaged a...

05/07/2026

Resistance in schools, communities, to stop fascism

Teacher Unions Fighting Fascism Join Rethinking Schools for a conversation on how teacher unions are leading the fight against fascism and ICE in their communities and schools. In this webinar, we will learn, celebrate, and amplify the lessons of the people heroically fighting back against ICE occupation — from Chicago to Los A....

05/01/2026

Resistance is not always big rallies and organised protests. Micro and everyday resistance matters because it reaches a key dimension of violence and oppression: our everyday relationships of power.

Small doesn’t mean insignificant. It means sustainable. ✊🏾

Drop one way you’re practicing micro-resistance this weekend.

Photos from UMass Amherst Resistance Studies Initiative's post

04/29/2026

Just two days left to register for the with Early Bird Discounts, starting from only $10. You can browse and filter all sessions here: https://resistance-journal.org/resistance-studies-conference/ Find research around your favorite resistance themes, activist workshops, panels etc.

04/22/2026

Don't forget to reigtser soon for the Resistance Studies Conference! We really wanted this to be an accessible conference for everyone. We will meet at Amherst on 18-21 June 2026 and online! Less than two months away!! 😱 Come and join us, presenter or not - this will be a really special conference! https://resistance-journal.org/resistance-studies-conference/