Beyond Resistance, Beyond Assimilation: Reimagining Citizenship through Poetry

Abstract The members of the Miya community in Assam, India have been facing an exacerbated threat statelessness. Among emancipatory grassroots organizations that emerged to defend rights community, is aesthetic resistance movement, now recognized as ‘Miya Poetry’ movement. bulk movement’s work since its emergence 2016 has call attention discriminations and human violations faced by people citizenship contestation processes. poetry has, on one hand, received wide acceptance a protest artistic, academic, liberal media circles, while other, contributors frequently criminalized or questioned state for their political views. In this article, we argue should be looked at beyond frames order understand social human-rights These poems affective capacity build resilience, facilitate complex understandings difference, reimagine equality, democratic values, freedom from forced assimilation integral idea citizenship. We used innovative methods form our data corpus, combining life history interviews with analyses selected poems. deployed thematic analysis report results. findings will useful not only poets artists different genres who seek rights, but more broadly global practices wish actuate deeper reflective engagement art-based activisms.