A refugee settler from Afghanistan, Moska Rokay is currently living and working in Tkaronto (Toronto) as a doctoral student at the University of Toronto (UofT) Faculty of Information. Her doctoral research project explores the archival needs of diverse Afghan diaspora communities in Canada and analyzes the landscape of existing Afghan community memory-making projects to challenge the archival field towards more community-centered practices for refugee communities. Through the creation of a counter-archive of Afghan refugee knowledge that amplifies their lived experiences and stories, her research will contribute to existing knowledge in critical refugee studies and diversify Canada’s historical and archival record. Moska received her Master of Information degree from the UofT in 2019. She is fluent in English and her native tongue is Farsi (Dari). When she is not devouring fantasy stories, practising Muay Thai, playing board games or tinkering with obsolete audiovisual equipment, Moska has been volunteering in the Afghan-Canadian diaspora community since 2013 as part of student and professional associations, and resettlement support. Through the Scholarship program, Moska seeks to learn how to realize a model of values-based leadership in community-engaged research that can also extend beyond academia and enable her to continue to serve diasporic Afghans.
Agential Archives: Cross-Generational Counter-Archival Practices of Long-Time and Newly Arrived Afghan Canadians
Archival theory and practice have not yet fully and ethically engaged with migrant and refugee voices. My research traces the figure of the Afghan refugee – both newly arrived and the long-time settled – to consider the complex roles Canada plays in relation to refuge and refugee resettlement. Specifically, I consider the significance of refugees not just as problems or crises to be resolved, but as vital to Canada’s commitment to multiculturalism. I turn to Afghan diasporic stories and lived experiences to highlight the ways these community members constitute a counter-archive that will broaden our understanding of narratives of forced displacement. I explore the archival needs of diverse Afghan diaspora communities in Canada and subsequently, analyze the landscape of Afghan community memory-making projects to challenge the archival field towards more community-centered practice for refugee communities. In an era of escalating Islamophobia and in the wake of the continuing global War on Terror, during which Afghans are already perceived as terrorists, my research focus on counter-archives is timely and necessary. Afghans are in Canada because they have been victims of a proxy war in the global Cold War and yet, they are constituted as the enemy even as they have tried to escape the enemy. Afghan refugees also experience a double loss: when they flee, they are forced to leave priceless objects behind and, simultaneously, their cultural heritage, including museums and archaeology, is destroyed by bombs to erase history. To purposefully amplify the lived experiences and stories of underrepresented groups in their own words is to counter misleading narratives. Heritage preservation is a vital act of service to the community and a societal good. Through creation of an Afghan counter-archive of oral history interviews, I will contribute to existing knowledge in critical refugee studies and this research will inform robust archival practices for refugee communities.
