Beyond Humanitarianism: Disability Care and Belonging of Shi’a Hazara Afghans in Iran

• Applicant: Ahmad Moradi, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Social and Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 536050318

This ethnographic project focuses on two generations of Afghan disabled ex-combatants in Iran. For decades, Hazara Shi’a Afghan refugees in Iran have fought and been injured in two Middle Eastern wars: the Iran–Iraq war (1980–1988) and the Syrian War (2011–present). In demanding care for their injuries, Afghan refugees-cum-disabled veterans make transnational structures of Islamist militancy and humanitarianism fall within the purview of the nation-state and local relations. Drawing on concepts from the anthropology of migration and disability studies, this project looks at state care institutions as well as the social life of disabled Afghans with Iranians in poor neighbourhoods. Together, they reveal how Afghans’ war injuries are folded into exclusionary regimes of care, and local histories of political violence and destitution. Combining archival materials, life history interviews, and first-hand empirical data, this project offers a unique lens into the intersection of welfare and warfare in the Middle East. Moreover, it will provide new insights that will change the debates about the dynamics of South-to-South mobility as well as disability history in the Middle East. In addition to academic contributions and outputs, this project aims to culminate in an exhibition presenting research findings to engage the general public. Additionally, to ensure a lasting impact that is relevant to the research context, an online working group will be formed consisting of Afghan and Iranian scholars and community activists based in Iran and outside. This group will be convened regularly over a period of three years and will continually seek wider relevance and visibility to the topic of non-citizens’ disability care in Iran.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants