Education Activism in the Syrian Civil War:Resisting by Persisting

This article analyzes education activists’resilience in emergencies, building on life storyinterviews with Syrians who engaged in civil society initiatives for schooling in the after-math of the 2011 uprising. It investigates the meaning that education acquires underextreme adversity and how it inspires individuals to act. Finding that these activists think ofeducation as a means to resist authoritarianism and transform society, the article bringsthe change agendas of local education actors to the fore. It concludes that resilience canbe the extension of political purpose. The article conceptualizes education as a vehicle ofresistance, foregrounding how temporal projections enable individuals to maintain beliefin their capability to enact changes. The activists make connections between their own ex-periences in school, thoughts about the future, and the reasons they mobilize for education.Working with time is a potent enabler when, objectively, the situation is deteriorating.