A focus on Afghan globalism yields a very different story. Viewed as an expansive space that accommodated varying kinds of networks that crisscrossed the region and the globe, rather than a static collection of tribes or ethnic groups, Afghanistan can no longer be understood as isolated from the global circulation of modern politics. The national lens is imperfect everywhere. But in the case of Afghanistan it has obscured diverse interconnections that linked Afghans to a wider modernity.   

- Dr. Robert Crews (Professor of History, Stanford University)

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2019 marks one hundred years since the signing of the Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919. This monumental event resulted in the United Kingdom formally recognising Afghanistan's independence, yet at present Afghanistan's sovereignty is still being contested. In a year when multiple events will be taking place globally to celebrate the country's independence, we seek to critically engage with the notion of independence in a workshop marking the centenary of the modern state of Afghanistan with our Keynote Speaker cited above.

 

We welcome PhD students and early-career researchers to submit abstracts of 200 words on any of the following themes:

 

1. Colonialism and imperialism

2. Society, borders and mobility

3. Histories and historiography

4. Insider-outsider perspectives

5. Decolonisation, resistance and resilience

 

This workshop is supported by the generosity of the SOAS Early Career Development Fund and the Association for Central Asian Civilizations & Silk Road Studies - UK.

 

Conveners:

Rabia Khan (SOAS)

Florence Shahabi (SOAS)