Zuzanna Olszewska

Associate Professor in the Social Anthropology of the Middle East  

Affiliation: School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography
Expert in: Forced migration; Diaspora
Geographic focus: Iran and Afghanistan

I specialise in the ethnography of Iran and Afghanistan, with a focus on Afghan refugees in Iran, the Persian-speaking Afghan diaspora, the anthropology of literature and cultural production, and digital ethnography.

My long-term research on Afghan cultural production expands beyond the refugee community in Iran to take a more global approach, examining the affective and imaginative role Afghan diasporic communities are playing in creating (or thwarting) an elusive pan-Afghan national identity. I am particularly interested in how young emigre Afghans use new social media and both offline and online cultural activities to construct an Afghan national imaginary or other identities in vibrant and often heated conversations that receive little attention from the 'international community'.