The Right to Have Rights
Details
Join us for Salon Kita's second session!
๐๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ณ๐ฌ,๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ง๐ถ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐บ๐ด๐ช๐ข. ๐๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐จ๐ข๐ญ ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ.
Writing as a stateless refugee herself, Hannah Arendt argued that citizenship and belonging to a political community โ not just being human โ is what makes rights real and enforceable in practice. Without that belonging, people fall into what Arendt calls "rightlessness": protected by nothing but the goodwill of others.
We'll be reading a short, accessible piece unpacking Aredntโs idea of "the right to have rights" and then bringing it home: Malaysia hosts over 170,000 refugees, and not one of them has the legal right to work. We'll dig into the real debate through Malaysian news articlesโ economic arguments, fears of job displacement, and what it means for a person to live in a country for years without ever being allowed to fully belong to it.
Participants will receive a pdf of the readings and a reading guide upon signing up!
๐: Gerakbudaya, 2, Jalan Bukit 11/2, Pjs 12, 46200 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
๐๏ธ: 14 November 2026
โฐ: 1pm - 3pm
โ๏ธ Register here:
https://forms.gle/zTFLsuwYGwp1qghw5
Contact: salonkitamy@gmail.com
Instagram: @salon_kita.my