Interview with Alavari Jeevathol “AJ” on International Youth Humanism
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/08/24
Alavari Jeevathol “AJ” was elected to the Humanists International board of directors in 2023. He is a founding trustee of the National Multifaith Youth Centre in the UK. He also serves as national coordinator of Young Humanists UK. His particular focus is on young humanists, on dialogue between faith and belief groups based on a shared humanistic spirituality, and on apostate refugee support. He also strives to work on issues of ecological sustainability for future generations. He was born in south India and is based in London, UK.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Let’s start at the current moment, we became acquainted in Denmark during the World Congress and General Assembly of Humanists International (2023). A time for food, mingling, workshops, speakers at lecterns, and after-hours fun. What was the experience at the combined World Congress and General Assembly for you?
AJ: That is a nice way of capturing it. The graciousness and good humour of our Nordic hosts certainly stood out to me, from what I was exposed to in Copenhagen, for example in locals-led historical tours of the city, theirs seems to be a way of life quite well suited to humanism, and vice versa. It was my second ever international humanist conference. Becoming ingratiated with the global humanist family, and picking up right where we left off at last year’s annual gathering, was immensely rewarding.
Jacobsen: What were the main takeaways after interacting with people, for you?
AJ: I was particularly struck by the sizeable gap in humanism’s desperately needed development amongst young people, and amongst the population from the Global South. The conference sessions that focused on those topics yielded great working relationships, with for example young Asian colleagues, and change pathways which I am eager to start building on straight away.
Jacobsen: When did you find out about and start becoming involved in Secular Humanism?
AJ: I guess it must have been in about 2016, when I started looking to get involved in social justice work, and community service generally.
My studies and career pressures had somewhat subsided, and I had some stability and leisure time to dedicate towards real change in the society around me. I was, and still am based in London, UK.
I was naturally drawn towards activities focusing on intergroup dialogue between faith and belief groups, refugee support work, advocacy, and campaigning, and also human rights issues at large. It just so happened that the first local community group I found to be active in such things was West London Humanists. That was my entry into the humanist movement.
Jacobsen: You have been elected as a Board member of Humanists International, as a youth voice. What are your aspirations and goals for this term in the position?
AJ: We’ve covered some of them already, I’d like to help bring to bear the millennial perspective on the Board, as well as my humanist organisational experience at the local and national level in the UK. We’ve got some key global challenges to solve: for example do we let humanist groups develop of their own accord in places that currently lack them, or should we be sowing seeds and seeking to actively raise up groups? Young people are particularly vulnerable from the perspective of career, capacity, and family pressures. They can drop out of the community fairly easily if other parts of their life start to squeeze. If I can perform my role well enough, subsequent Board elections should see more young humanists seeking positions, not to mention other key regional and international roles with Humanists International.
Jacobsen: What seem like the more pressing concerns for young humanists in each region?
AJ: I am wary of commenting on such a wide-ranging question with my limited knowledge of the particular needs of each global region. Our HI management team and regional coordinators are perhaps better placed to answer this question with greatest accuracy. I will work with them closely in the years to come.From my current personal perspective based on what I know about the UK and South Asian contexts, it is the unifying global challenges that stand out most to me — combatting a sense of societal apathy and climate emergency doomism amongst youth, and uncertainty about building a career and secure life prospects. Yet there is also a palpable sense of hope found in youth, for example in a 2022 UN survey, that is not maybe found so much in older generations. It’s our job as humanist advocates and activists to harness that and translate it into action.
Jacobsen: What is the character of Secular Humanism in the UK compared to other regions’ countries?
AJ: As with some other Western regions, the UK demographic data is somewhat encouraging: non-religious life stances are becoming more pronounced. Just over two-thirds of youth in the UK are non-religious according to the 2019 British Social Attitudes survey. Campaigns are ongoing to achieve UK-wide legal recognition of humanist marriages, it is currently only legal in some regions of the country. Humanists UK, by far the largest humanist organisation in the country with over 100,000 paying members, seeks to advocate the humanist world view through campaigning and social ceremonial services. Although there is some inconsistent teaching of humanism as part of faith and values school education in the UK, we still have yet to achieve a nation-wide consistent curriculum recognition for teaching humanism. The most common way for the average UK resident to come across humanism is by attending a funeral or wedding conducted by a humanist celebrant. We are privileged enough to enjoy civil liberties that other regions do not have, which makes the efforts of those humanist advocacy organisations under harsher legislative and social environments all the more inspiring.
Jacobsen: In the humanist movement, what person most inspires you?
AJ: A single person? I have never been asked that before, and haven’t thought to answer that for myself, to be honest! I meet and work with a plethora of amazingly inspiring people every week, and they each inspire me in their own way. I find I am naturally averse to focusing on a single personality. I suppose I find those engaging in relatively quiet but effective, uncelebrated, grassroots work the most inspiring – for example the school speakers or celebrants we mentioned earlier that are effectively ambassadors for humanism in their own corners of the world, blooming where they are planted.
Jacobsen: Middle East and North Africa representation can be an issue. Several ex-Muslims have noted this to me. The primary reason is a fear of coming out, whether beheadings, jailings, or the pain of social ostracism. Of those few organizations connected to the larger humanist movement, some lament the lack of regional representation, of them, at the international or global level – speaking of global humanist representation of the MENA region. How can we fill this gap, have better representation, and increase retention and safety for those more vulnerable members of the global humanist community?
AJ: It’s a crucial issue. It’s important that we had a notable presence from the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain at the Copenhagen conference, reminding us of the horrors that apostates face. There are no easy answers. Certainly the global humanist community can contribute to progress in the MENA region by amplifying the media voices of apostate activists in those countries, as well as those in the diaspora. Furthermore, we should practically and financially support those high-profile activists whose stories and lives have become a rallying point for many others to rise up behind them in the demand for universal human rights. Indeed, HI does this excellently with what little resources we have, but there is much more to be done when it comes to individual case work. Added to this, if we can diplomatically press and advocate for legislative changes at the international and regional levels, this can have liberating effects at the national level in repressive societies, allowing shoots of humanist and other allied organisations to develop.
Jacobsen: How can people support or become involved in the youth branch of HI, HI, and various groups, in Europe?
AJ: Readers can follow Young Humanists International on socials, and let us know what perspective they are seeing from wherever they happen to be planted. We also have an interactive global map of humanist organisations who are HI members or associates on the HI website.
We are always looking for financial support and social media amplification for the important case work we do. Readers can donate to support individual humanists under persecution, as well as campaigning and advocacy that the HI team carries out at regional and global levels.
Jacobsen: How can people contact you?
AJ: By email at aj.clhumanists@gmail.com
Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, AJ.
License
In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work at www.in-sightpublishing.com.
Copyright
© Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing 2012-Present. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. All interviewees and authors co-copyright their material and may disseminate for their independent purposes.
In-Sight Publishing 