Between Resistance and Neoliberal Resilience: Rethinking the Role of Education in Emergencies in Shaping Young Refugee Social and Political Agency

Resilience is viewed as a protective response to war trauma and is increasingly promoted by Education in Emergencies through its social-emotional learning interventions in conflict-affected areas. However, evidence has emerged challenging the social impact of EiE’s neoliberal framing of resilience on young people. This article examines how young Syrian refugees’ resilience narratives shape their social and political future, and how these respond to the current neoliberal narrative in EiE. Methodologically, 31 participants in Lebanon and Iraq took part in Q-sorting and semi-structured interviews. This study calls for EiE to shift towards a resistance-based understanding of resilience in its SEL interventions.