UCLA Center for the Study of Women

In June this year I returned to Kabul insearch of empirical data and the legacy of the first modern Afghan woman, Queen Soraya Tarzi (r. 1919–1929). The research trip opened my eyes to the particular challenges of conducting feminist scholarship in what is not only a war zone but also an authoritarian, somewhat chaotic, and misogynist society where history is largely handed down orally through anecdotes and folklore. My visit also coincided with a period in which Afghans have begun to rewrite their history, contesting the official nationhood version with ethno centrist and pan-Islamists variations, both of which either ignore Queen Soraya or present her in a negative light either due to her modernity or ethnicity.