Care, Solidarity, and Academic Life in Exile: A Conversation with Volha Davydzik

In this episode of the Protecting Academia at Risk podcast, we speak with Volha Davydzik, a Belarusian researcher working at the intersection of social and political philosophy, feminist theory, and protest studies.Drawing on her experiences across Belarus, China, and Germany, Volha reflects on academic displacement, mobility, care, solidarity, and the challenges of rebuilding an academic life in exile. The conversation explores the hidden labour of migration, the tensions between academic mobility and personal stability, and the ways in which gender and caregiving shape academic careers.The discussion also delves into Volha’s research on the 2020 Belarusian protest movement, examining infrastructures of care and solidarity, affective politics, protest art, and forms of collective resistance under authoritarianism. Together, we reflect on how care can function not only as a response to violence, but also as a political practice capable of sustaining collective life and imagining alternative futures.Volha Davydzik is a Belarusian researcher working in the fields of social and political philosophy, feminist theory, and protest studies. Her research focuses on the 2020 Belarusian protest movement, infrastructures of solidarity and care, affective politics, and forms of collective resistance under authoritarianism.Recent work:Davydzik, Volha. (2026). Choreography of Spaces and Bodies During Social Rebellion: the Case of the Belarusian Revolution. Journal of Belarusian Studies. https://doi.org/10.30965/20526512-12350039DAVYDZIK, Volia (2025) FROM UTOPIA TO VULNERABILITY: THE FEMALE BODY IN BELARUSIAN ART OF THE 20TH-21ST CENTURIES. URL: https://chrysalismag.org/project/female-body-in-belarusian-artDAVYDZIK, Volha. (2025). CYBERFEMINISM AND THE BELARUSIAN UPRISING: DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURES, AFFECTIVE SOLIDARITY, AND POLITICAL IMAGINATION. Topos, (1), 226-243. https://journals.ehu.lt/index.php/topos/article/view/1486/1195DAVYDZIK, Volha, STEBUR Antonina. (2024) INVISIBLE NETWORKS: TECHNOLOGY’S DUAL ROLE IN CARE AND POLITICS IN BELARUS// https://jordanrussiacenter.org/blog/invisible-networks-technologys-dual-role-in-care-and-politics-in-belarus.DAVYDZIK, Volha, STEBUR Antonina. (2023) FEATURES AND EFFECTS OF THE DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES IN THE BELARUSIAN PROTEST, Digital Icons, (22), 23-44.