Building solidarity through comparative lived experiences of post/conflict: Reflections on two days of dialogue

Occasions for in-depth dialogue among academics in times of conflict are rare. This piece provides brief insight into the value and challenges of one such occasion, which brought Syrian academics together with international colleagues from contexts undergoing conflict or grappling with post-conflict legacies. Seven dominant themes that emerged from two days of roundtable discussions and workshops are identified and discussed: (1) brokering and relational expertise when under conditions of [post-] conflict, (2) international involvement and expertise, (3) the question of whether it is desirable to depoliticise higher education, (4) issues of academia and academics’ complicity in conflict and division, (5) pathological constructions of conflict, (6) the invisibility and inaccessibility of resources, and (7) how being in exile can create space for dialogue, but also burdens of responsibility for representation. The authors reflect on the rhizomous connections, strategic insights and support shared by contributors at this event, in addition to highlighting the consciousness that was raised around the agency, limitations, complicity and intergenerational legacies borne by academics and the academy in contexts of conflict, crisis and post-conflict development.