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Research Fellow advances academic writing in and on Afghanistan

Wednesday 19 October 2022

 

A Junior Research Fellow at St Catharine’s has enjoyed success in recent weeks by championing academic writing on and in Afghanistan. Dr Nafay Choudhury (2021), the College’s Jeremy Haworth Research Fellow, has won prizes for his research articles on legal pluralism and private governance in Afghanistan and recently visited the country to lead a workshop series to share his expertise on academic writing.

Dr Choudhury leading a workshop for male participants at Kardan University in Kabul
Dr Choudhury leading parallel workshops for male and female participants at Kardan University in Kabul
Dr Choudhury leading a workshop for female participants at Kardan University in Kabul.

Dr Choudhury’s work sits at the intersection of socio-legal studies, legal pluralism, economic development, and the rule of law. His research explores the fragmented and plural forms of order that exist within the state, alongside the state, and beyond the state. His current research and publications explore the role of market associations in providing normative order in fragile settings.

Recently published in the journal Law & Social Inquiry, Dr Choudhury’s article on "Order in the Bazaar: The Transformation of Non-State Law in Afghanistan’s Premier Money Exchange Market" has already been singled out for prizes in 2021 from both the Law & Society Association and the Socio-Legal Studies Association. This article has now also earned the Asian Law & Society Association’s Distinguished Article Award, which will be formally awarded at a ceremony during the Association’s annual meeting in Hanoi on 10 December 2022.

Dr Choudhury also recently learned that a forthcoming article entitled “Transacting on Trust: The Regulation of Trade Credit by Afghanistan’s Money Exchangers” has been won the Trandafir Writing Prize, which is awarded each year by the journal Transnational Law & Contemporary Problems, in conjunction with the University of Iowa College of Law International and Comparative Law Programme. The article will be published by the same journal in its next issue.

In the hope of sharing the experience gained from these well-received articles, Dr Choudhury worked closely with officials from Kardan University in Afghanistan, where he is affiliated as a visiting researcher. Together they developed a series of academic writing workshops, primarily for professors and advanced researchers, which blended presentations and interactive elements to help participants refine their ideas. As the Kardan University community includes both men and women, there were parallel sessions to ensure both groups could benefit. He explains:

“As Kardan University strives to provide greater educational opportunities, I found it so rewarding working with them to help their researchers express themselves more effectively – they have important things to say so it is vital their ideas are heard. It is clear that education was an opportunity for the workshop participants to make a change in the world despite political uncertainty and economic hardship. I was particularly pleased that around 40–45 female students and academics participated in the series.”

“I would like to sincerely thank Dr Ahmad Khalid Hatam, Chancellor of Kardan University, and Dr Nassir Ul Haq Wani, Head of the University’s Department of Research and Development for helping to facilitate this most recent visit to Afghanistan, including these workshops.  It takes time and practice to develop academic writing skills, so we are already discussing further workshops and one-on-one support during future trips.”

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