19/04/2024
The politics of time with Carolyn Smith
"When I arrived at the camps in August 2017, I arrived right at the date of the influx," says Farhana Rahman, a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow and Isaac Newton Trust Fellow at the Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Cambridge.
"I had never imagined that there could be so many people. Their tents stretched for miles in all directions, as far as the eye could see."
Following a period of intense violence again the Rohingya in Myanmar, more than 700,000 fled the country and sought refuge in neighboring Bangladesh, just outside of Cox's Bazar.
For Women's History Month, we recorded a special podcast episode with Dr Rahman, who shares the stories of some of the women in these camps, which she had collected over the course of her 14-month fieldwork placement.
"There was incredible suffering yes, and it's important to raise awareness about that, but there were also moments of beauty and joy in the camps, where women were finding ways to survive and thrive despite the difficulties and the death," she adds.
In this new podcast episode, Rohingya Refugee Women: Stories of Resilience, Farhana discusses a variety of topics, including gender dynamics and changing gender roles, strategies for survival and support, reflections on the work of NGOs, as well as a discussion of research methodology and conducting ethical ethnographic research.
"I learned so much from these women", says Farhana, "and I feel a sense of responsibility to ensure that their stories are heard".
Ways to listen
You can listen to this podcast via the following apps and links:
The episode is not yet available on Apple Podcasts.
About the speaker
Dr Farhana Rahman is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow and Isaac Newton Trust Fellow at the Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Cambridge, as well as a Junior Research Fellow at Wolfson College Cambridge. Farhana is also co-founder of Silkpath Relief Organization, a non-profit providing humanitarian assistance to individuals devastated by calamities in Afghanistan, and with Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and Malaysia. For her extensive research and work contributions to the field of gender and development, Farhana was the 2021 recipient of the Paula Kantor Award from the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW).
