The SOAS DevTraC Podcast Series offers episodes covering critical conversations in international development, with academics, researchers and practitioners.

Episodes

From Home to Unknown: The harsh reality of the Afghan migration crisis

The latest conversation in the DevTraC Podcast Series is part two of the Afghan podcast where Bismellah Alizada, Reza Hussaini, Rabia Khan, and Zarifa Hosseini discuss the struggles encountered by Afghan migrants seeking a new home, both as individuals and as a group on the move. Through personal anecdotes and insightful analysis, the group investigates the impact of language on inter-group relations and how it adds to the 'us' versus 'them' mentality in political discourse. This harsh reality has the potential to hinder migrants' prospects for a "better life" and upward mobility. The ultimate goal of this discussion is to advance a more inclusive and cooperative social order, grounded in ideas rooted in equal civility and shared citizenship, both in the UK and internationally.

From Home to Unknown: The harsh reality of the Afghan migration crisis

Afghanistan in Archives: Nationalism, identity and the State

"Afghanistan in Archives" is the first of a two-part episode, a group of SOAS scholars, Florence Shahabi, Zeynep Tuba Sungur, Barry Sadid, and Bismellah Alizada, examine the role of archives in shaping nationalism, identity and the state, both in the past and present. They explore the prospects of using archives to preserve the Afghan identity and humanise local discourses surrounding the state. This podcast is an invaluable addition to the ongoing debate on the preservation of memories and cultural heritage for stateless and scattered diasporas, a critical issue for an increasing number of nation-states plagued by political instability, with memories often inaccessible to researchers. 

Afghanistan in Archives: Nationalism, identity and the State

UN-ESCWA’s World Development Challenges Report Launch Podcast

This episode features a conversation between Professor Carlos Oya from SOAS, and Khalid Abu-Ismail, Senior Economist at United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) and lead report author of “World Development Challenges Report: Development from a broader lens”. The report launch was hosted by SOAS DevTraC on October 2022 at SOAS. This discussion captures insights shared by the lead author and stimulates debate about the report and its use.

UN-ESCWA’s World Development Challenges report: Conversation with Khalid Abu-Ismail (part 1)

All episodes of the DevTraC Podcast can be found on SoundCloud.