Society for Critical Studies of Crisis (SCSC)

Transnational Families and Future-Making in Looming Crises

On 4 August 2026, the Asia Research Institute (ARI) at the National University of Singapore convened a roundtable on Transnational Families and Future-Making in Looming Crises – a conversation squarely within the remit of the Society for Critical Studies of Crisis.

The session took as its point of departure the sense that the world is not only uncertain but increasingly dangerous: pandemics, violent conflict, climate change, and the fraying of the post-war liberal order converging into what scholars have come to call polycrisis. Rather than treating crisis as rupture, the speakers approached it as chronic and mundane, while still holding within it the potential for disaster and catastrophe. The guiding question: how do families brace themselves for volatile futures, and how does “doing family” – across borders, generations, and obligations – become itself a mode of future-making?

Chair
Dr Bittiandra Chand Somaiah (NUS College, National University of Singapore)

Presentations

• Prof Helle Rydstrom (Lund University; President, SCSC) – Classed Futures: Low-burning Economic Crisis and Family Mobilities in Industrializing Vietnam
• Prof Simon Turner (Lund University) – Transnational Future-making Through Children in the Shadow of Burundi’s Ongoing Crises
• Dr Erica M. Larson (National University of Singapore) – “We Have to Think Long-Term”: Citizenship and Residency Futures Among Indonesian Family Migrants in Singapore
• Prof Brenda S.A. Yeoh (National University of Singapore) – Transnational Motherhood and Future-Making in the Wake of the Pandemic in Southeast Asia

Empirical material spanned Indonesia, Myanmar, Singapore, and Vietnam, with Burundi held alongside as a contrastive case, foregrounding how families keep options open across borders, tether individuals to the past through kinship and ancestry, and invest in the future through practices of care under conditions of protracted uncertainty.

The roundtable closed with an extended discussion and Q&A, drawing out cross-regional resonances in how polycrisis is lived, anticipated, and negotiated at the scale of the family.

Full programme and speaker profiles: ARI event page

How can crisis preparedness become truly inclusive? Join the conference “Krisberedskap för alla?” on 20 October in Malmö, bringing together researchers, practitioners, libraries, and people with lived experience to discuss accessible and inclusive preparedness in times of crisis and war. The day will feature talks, discussions, and practical perspectives on disability, participation, and resilience in Sweden’s evolving preparedness landscape.

More information and programme: https://projekt.ht.lu.se/beredskap-for-alla/konferens-20-okt-krisberedskap-for-alla/

CISR is pleased to announce an upcoming symposium exploring the complex interconnections between polycrisis, risks, and resilience from a Global South–Global North perspective. As multiple, co-existing crises—economic, environmental, political—reshape global inequalities, this symposium will critically examine how these asymmetries affect development and resilience-building efforts worldwide.

The event will bring together leading scholars to discuss key themes across five panels:

🔹 Panel 1: Global South Perspectives on Development and Polycrisis
How do interconnected global crises deepen socio-economic inequalities between the Global North and South, disproportionately affecting specific communities and hindering sustainable development?

🔹 Panel 2: Social Resilience in Crisis Times Considered from the Global South
What conditions support the development of social resilience to mitigate risks in times of polycrisis, and how can Global South experiences inform crisis responses and reframe development?

🔹 Panel 3: Sustainable Development, Gendered Crisis Inequalities, and Resilience
How do gendered inequalities intersect with polycrisis to shape risks and resilience, and how can these insights drive more inclusive development initiatives for those facing precarity and marginalisation?

🔹 Panel 4: Politics of Miscommunication and Developments Across the Globe
How do miscommunication and misinformation about crises obstruct dialogue and knowledge exchange between the Global North and South, potentially impeding resilience-building efforts? (Hui, Martin)

🔹 Panel 5: Developing Collaborative Strategies and Futures
How can interdisciplinary and transnational research collaborations help develop frameworks that are responsive to the entanglements of development, polycrisis, risks, and resilience, contributing to the advancement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?

This two-day symposium, scheduled for October 7-8, 2025.

📅 Save the date and join us in shaping new perspectives on crisis, resilience, and global development!

As a strong research area, CISR is committed to advancing interdisciplinary, high-impact research on crisis inequalities and social resilience. Building on our existing work, we will further establish a leading hub for cutting-edge scholarship, fostering collaborations across the Faculty and beyond. This will create a sustainable research environment that brings together scholars at various career stages to deepen understanding of how societies respond to crises.

Our research will continue to generate novel insights into the unequal capacities for resilience—examining how some groups carve out new possibilities in crisis, while others face socio-economic and political marginalisation. Ethical considerations will remain central, particularly in addressing disparities in access to resources, opportunities, and rights that shape resilience in times of upheaval.

In an era of polycrisis, CISR plays a crucial role in reinvigorating discussions around the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their relevance to global resilience strategies. As crisis and resilience studies gain urgency both in Sweden and internationally, we will strengthen our engagement with policy institutions, funding bodies, and international research networks, ensuring that our work informs and shapes responses to contemporary global challenges.

CISR’s consolidation as a strong research area will provide a robust foundation for securing long-term funding, expanding interdisciplinary partnerships, and positioning the Faculty as a leader in crisis and resilience research. Our commitment to methodological innovation and cross-disciplinary dialogue will ensure continued national and international impact, supporting sustainable and forward-looking research initiatives.

CISR researchers actively contribute to international and interdisciplinary academic discussions by organising panels and presenting papers at leading conferences on crisis, resilience, and social transformation.

Panel Organisation and Moderation

• Catia Gregoratti – Panel moderation, “Crisis, Resilience, and Care II”, Pollen 2024, Lund (June 10-14, 2024).
• Sara Kauko & Helle Rydström – Conveners of a triple panel “Facing Precarity and Improvising Resilience in ‘Times of Crisis’”, Swedish Anthropological Association Annual Meeting (SANT), Uppsala University (April 24-26, 2024).
• Simon Turner – Co-organizer of a double panel “Prepared to Improvise? Material Anticipatory Practices in the Face of Impending Catastrophe”, Swedish Anthropological Association Annual Meeting (SANT), Uppsala University (April 24-26, 2024).

Paper Presentations

• Catia Gregoratti et al. – “Resilience: Why Should Feminists Care?”, 10th International Degrowth Conference, Pontevedra, Spain (June 18-21, 2024).
• Nils Gustafsson & Huy Zhao – “‘Toxic, But in a Good Way’: H&M in Russia During the Ukraine War as seen Through Consumer Activism on TikTok”, NordMedia Conference, Bergen, Norway (August 16-18, 2023).
• Sara Kauko – Multiple presentations on resilience and social cohesion in Argentina at:
  • XII Nordic Latin American Research Network Conference, Copenhagen (May 21-23, 2024).
  • Swedish Anthropological Association Annual Conference, Uppsala (April 23-25, 2024).
  • Nordic Workshop Series on Social and Cultural Cohesion, Gothenburg (January 25-26, 2024).
  • Finnish Anthropological Society Biennial Conference, Rovaniemi, Finland (March 21-23, 2023).
  • Swedish Anthropological Association Annual Conference, Stockholm (April 27-29, 2023).
  • Nordic Institute of Latin American Studies Open Lecture (April 26, 2023).
• Helle Rydström – “Improvising Resilience: Crises of Welfare and Masculinized Class Precarity in Industrializing Vietnam”, Swedish Anthropological Association Annual Meeting (SANT), Uppsala University (April 24-26, 2024).
• Simon Turner –
  • “Doomsday Prepping as Improvisation Through ‘Stuff’”, Swedish Anthropological Association Annual Meeting (SANT), Uppsala University (April 24-26, 2024).
  • “Precarious Care Across Migrant Generations in Tanzania”, American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, Toronto, Canada (November 14-18, 2023).
• Marlene Wiggill – “A Strategic Communication Approach to Disaster Risk Reduction Communication to Enhance Immigrants’ and Refugees’ Resilience”, ECREA – 7th International Crisis Communication Conference, Gothenburg (October 5-7, 2023).

Discussant Roles

• Simon Turner – Discussant, “Facing Precarity and Improvising Resilience in ‘Times of Crisis’”, Swedish Anthropological Association Annual Meeting (SANT), Uppsala University (April 24-26, 2024).

CISR actively engages in interdisciplinary collaborations, invited talks, and public exhibitions to advance research on crisis inequalities and social resilience.

Collaborative Research Networks

• InterResilience: Interdisciplinary Resilience Mechanisms in Crisis (2022-2025) – A collaborative network funded by The Hamburg University and Lund University Fund. Learn more
• Politics and Power of Resilience (POWERS) Network – A partnership with the University of Lapland, Uppsala University, and the University of Copenhagen exploring resilience from a political and power-based perspective. Learn more

Crisis and Resilience Talks

• Helle Rydström – “Fathers Employed in Vietnam’s Heavy Industry: Class Precarity, Family Care, and Crises of Welfare”, ERC Workshop, Bielefeld University, Germany (March 26-28, 2024).
• Helle Rydström – “Standing on the Ruins: The Temporalities and Modalities of Catastrophic Crisis”, Symposium, Hamburg, Germany (October 27-28, 2023).
• Helle Rydström – “Crises Ethnographies: Social, Political, and Anthropological Considerations”, Visiting Polycrisis Workshop, IDS, Sussex University, UK (October 12-13, 2023).
• Helle Rydström – “What is Social Resilience?”, ECREA Communication History Section Workshop, Lund, Sweden (August 23-25, 2023).

Public Exhibitions

• “Being Well – Social Resilience in a Changing World” – A poster exhibition featuring work by Sara Kauko, Patric Nordbeck, Azher Hameed Qamar, Tove Lundberg, Mikael Linnell, Martin Lundqvist, Yunwhan Kim, and Teres Hjärpe at Lund City Hall during Lund Sustainability Week (April 17-22, 2023). Learn more

CISR researchers continue to contribute to global discussions on crisis inequalities, resilience, and social transformation through high-impact publications. Recent works include:

• Banerjee, Soumi (2023). Performing Agency in Shrinking Spaces: Acting Beyond the Resilience–Resistance Binary, Social Inclusion, 11(2):147-158. https://doi.org/10.17645/si.v11i2.6446
• Banerjee, Soumi (2025). Legitimacy under Scrutiny: Why Some Organisations Are More Vulnerable to Restriction than Others?, Voluntary Sector Review (published online ahead of print). https://doi.org/10.1332/20408056Y2025D000000035
• Claeson, Olivia, Mikaela Rydén Ragnar, Agnes Åstrom, and Yunhwan Kim (2024). Swedish Women Reaching Post-Traumatic Growth after an Intimate Partner Violence Relationship: A Study of Formal Help and Growth after Trauma, Scandinavian Journal of Public Health. https://doi.org/10.1177/14034948231222366
• Linnell, Mikael (2024). Samhällsviktig verksamhet. Klimatanpassning och risk i framtidsperspektiv, Myndigheten för Samhällsskydd och Beredskap. https://rib.msb.se/filer/pdf/30582.pdf
• Linnell, Mikael (2023). Livet från den ljusa sidan: Sociologi och föreställningen om det radikalt annorlunda, Sociologisk Forskning, 60(3-4):327-51. https://doi.org/10.37062/sf.60.25403
• Lundqvist, Martin (2024). A Gathering with Fire: Exploring the Audience Reception of Internet Memes about Belfast Riots, Media, Culture, & Society, 46(4):706-724.
• Gusic, Ivan, and Martin Lundqvist (2023). “Meme-Ing” Peace in Northern Ireland: Exploring the Everyday Politics of Internet Memes in Belfast Riots, International Journal of Communication, 17.
• Lundqvist, Martin (2023). Fear and Posting in Nepal: Countering Spectacles of Fear Through Everyday Social Media Practices, Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies, 37(4): 507-521.
• Nguyen Minh, Helle Rydström, and Jingyu Mao (2024). Introduction to Reconfiguring Labor and Welfare in the Global South: How The Social Question is Framed as Market Participation, Global Social Policy, 24(2):149-165. https://journals.sagepub.com/toc/GSP/current
• Nguyen Minh, Jingyu Mao, and Helle Rydström (2024). Special Issue on “Reconfiguring Labor and Welfare in Emerging Economies of the Global South”, Global Social Policy, 24(2).
• Qamar, Azher H. (2023). Conceptualizing Social Resilience in the Context of Migrants’ Lived Experiences, Geoforum, 139. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2023.103680
• Qamar, Azher H. (2023). Social Dimensions of Resilience and Climate Change: A Rapid Review of Theoretical Approaches, Present Environment and Sustainable Development, 17(1):139-153.
• Qamar, Azher H. (2023). Researching Social Resilience in the Context of Migrants’ Life Transition: A Qualitative Methodological Mosaic, Journal of the Higher School of Economics, 20(4):796-813. https://doi.org/10.17323/1813-8918-2023-4-796-813
• Rydström, Helle, Mo Hamza, Thomas Gammeltoft-Hansen, and Vanja Berggren (eds.) (In press). Crisis and Resilience: Politics, Precariousness, and Potentialities, Bristol University Press.
• Rydström, Helle (2023). Gendering Morality and Providing a Feminized Ethics of Care: Welfare, Crises, and Tình cảm in Contemporary Vietnam, HAU, Journal of Ethnographic Theory, 13(3). https://doi.org/10.1086/728982
• Rydström, Helle (2024). Introduction to Section on Gender and Private Life. In Global Encounters, Translocal Lifeworlds, eds. Nguyen Minh and Kirsten Endres, Yale University Southeast Asian Studies. https://pub.uni-bielefeld.de/record/2986812
• Rydström, Helle (2023). Family, Gender, and New Constellations: Crises and Changing Configurations, Vietnam: Navigating a Rapidly Changing Economy, Society, and Political Order, eds. Dwight Perkins and Börje Ljunggren, Harvard University Press. https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674291331
• Rydström, Helle (2023). Disrupting “A Man’s World”: Gender, Technology, and Class in Vietnam’s Global Heavy Industry, JRAI: Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 29(1):163-182. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9655.13865
• Rydström, Helle, Mo Hamza, Thomas Gammeltoft-Hansen, and Vanja Berggren (eds.) (2022). Double Special Issue on “Crisis: Politics, Precariousness, and Potentialities”, Global Discourse, 12(3-4). https://bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/view/journals/gd/12/3-4/gd.12.issue-3-4.xml
• Skarp, Sara, Lea Fünfschilling, Mikael Klintman, and Mikael Linnell (2023). A Speculative Conversation on Climate Change and Sociology, Sociologisk Forskning, 60(3-4):401-10. https://doi.org/10.37062/sf.60.25402
• Turner, Simon (2023). Social Media and Sounding Out in The Cryptopolitical Landscape of the Burundian Conflict, in Cryptopolitics: Exposure, Concealment, and Digital Media, eds. Victoria Bernal, Katrien Pype, and Daivi Rodima-Taylor, Berghan Books.
• Zhao, Hui and Jesper Falkheimer (2024). Communication Inequality of Ethnic Groups in Public Health Crisis: State of the Art and Model of Community-Based Crisis Response, in Risk and Crisis Communication in Europe: Towards Integrating Theory and Practice in Unstable and Turbulent Times, eds. Diers-Lawson et al., Routledge.

For more details, visit [CISR’s research page].

The CISR research community continues to secure competitive funding to advance critical investigations into crisis inequalities and social resilience. Recent and ongoing grant applications include interdisciplinary and international collaborations:

InterResilience: Interdisciplinary Resilience Mechanisms in Crisis (2022-2025), funded through The Hamburg University and Lund University Fund. (Dienefelt, Thorén, Hjärpe, Rydström, and Zwar).

“Preppers for Security in Sweden” – Funded by Vetenskapsrådet (2023-2026). (Stern, Turner, Agius, Karlsson Franck, and Georgi).

Society for Critical Studies of Crisis (SCSC) is the culmination of more than two years of inter-disciplinary work at Lund University supported by the Pufendorf Institute through an Advanced Study Group and a CRISIS Theme. These initiatives were a response to urgent calls for political action and ethical calls for more inclusive and efficient models for crisis prevention, mitigation, and restoration.

The SCSC is a non-profit Lund University-based association that was launched at the Symposium on Critical Explorations of Crisis:  Politics, Precariousness, and Potentialities in 2019. It provides a platform for members’ engagement, both individuals and institutions with an interest in critical crisis studies. Membership in the SCSC is free. An annual general meeting will be held.

Aim

The SCSC understands crisis as the result of complex dynamics and interactions rather than a ‘siloed’ event. From an inter- and multidisciplinary perspective, the SCSC seeks to critically examine the interconnectedness between various types of crises, the economic, political, and ideological aspects of a crisis, how these engage to configure politics, realities, and experiences of a crisis, the socially differentiated impacts of a crisis, and its unequal ramifications in particular contexts for specific social groups.

Liability

Swedish legislation and the Lund University policy and ethical regulations set the frame for the SCSC.