Aziz Choudry

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Aziz Choudry (23 June 1966 – 26 May 2021), originally from New Zealand, was a scholar and Canadian activist and the former coordinator of GATT Watchdog, a Canadian non-governmental organization that monitored the activities of the World Trade Organization.

He was a prolific scholar-activist internationally recognized for his scholarship and solidarity with migrant, Indigenous, Palestinian, and anti-colonial struggles. Choudry was an associate professor in the Department of Integrated Studies in Education at McGill University and an organizer of popular education initiatives through the Immigrant Workers Centre in Montreal. [1] He was an editor for Interface: A Journal for and About Social Movements between 2011 and 2016.[2]

He died in Johannesburg on 26 May 2021.[3]

Biography[edit]

Choudry was born in the United Kingdom to Mohammad Yaqoob Chaudhry, a Pakistani emigrant, who migrated to London in 1963. Yaqoob belonged to the persecuted Ahmadiyya Muslim community. Aziz's mother, Mary Cummins converted to Islam and changed her name to Mahmooda Choudry after marrying Aziz's father.

Aziz went to Whitgift High School in Croydon, England. He left his parents house at the age of 17 and moved to New Zealand.

Surveillance by New Zealand Security Intelligence Service[edit]

In 1996, two SIS agents broke into the home of Aziz Choudry. Choudry was an organiser with GATT Watchdog, which was holding a public forum and rally against an APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) Trade Ministers meeting hosted in Christchurch.[4] It was one of the high-profile cases of misconduct by SIS that went to Court. The Court of Appeal ruled that the SIS had exceeded their legislated powers of interception.[5] Parliament later amended the SIS Act to give the SIS powers of entry into private property.

Books[edit]

Choudry's books include:

  • Fight Back: Workplace Justice for Immigrants (with Jill Hanley, Steve Jordan, Eric Shragge, and Martha Stiegman, Fernwood Publishing, 2009)[6]
  • Learning from the Ground Up: Global Perspectives on Social Movements and Knowledge Production (edited with Dip Kapoor, Palgrave Macmillan, 2010)[7]
  • Organize!: Building from the Local for Global Justice (edited with Jill Hanley and Eric Shragge, Between the Lines and PM Press, 2012)[8]
  • NGOization: Complicity, Contradictions and Prospects (edited with Dip Kapoor, Zed Books, 2013)[9]
  • Learning Activism: The Intellectual Life of Contemporary Social Movements (University of Toronto Press, 2015)[10]
  • Just Work? Migrant Workers' Struggles Today (edited with Mondli Hlatshwayo, Pluto Press, 2016)[11]
  • Unfree Labour? Struggles of Migrant and Immigrant Workers in Canada (edited with Adrian A. Smith, PM Press, 2016)[12]
  • Reflections on Knowledge, Learning and Social Movements: History’s Schools (edited with Salim Vally, Routledge, 2018)[13]
  • Activists and the Surveillance State: Learning from Repression (edited, Pluto Press, 2019)[14]
  • The University and Social Justice: Struggles across the Globe (edited with Salim Vally, Pluto Press, 2020)[15]

References[edit]

  1. ^ McGill University, Faculty of Education. "In Memoriam". McGill University - Faculty of Education. McGill University. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  2. ^ "In Memoriam: Abdul Aziz Choudry (1966 – 2021)" (PDF). Interface: a journal for and about social movements. July 2021.
  3. ^ Wong, Andrea (16 June 2021). "Aziz Choudry (1966-2021): 'An exceptional individual and a real intellectual in every sense of the word'". Concordia.
  4. ^ Manning, Selwyn (3 September 1999). "Scoop Exclusive - The Man Who Spooked The Spooks". Scoop.
  5. ^ "Crown Pays Up, Apologises In Choudry SIS Case". Scoop. 26 August 1999. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  6. ^ Reviews of Fight Back: Habiba Zaman, "Racialization and marginalization of immigrants: a new wave of xenophobia in Canada", Labour / Le Travail, JSTOR 20799037; Sheila Wilmot, Socialist Studies/Études Socialistes, doi:10.18740/S4RK5F
  7. ^ Reviews of Learning from the Ground Up: Shauna Butterwick, The Canadian Journal for the Study of Adult Education, [1]; Scott Neigh, Canadian Dimension, [2]; Nelly P. Stromquist & Natasa Hennessy, "Reclaiming knowledge production in social movements", British Journal of Sociology of Education, JSTOR 23256172
  8. ^ Reviews of Organize!: Ian Hussey, Race, Class and Empire, doi:10.18740/S4DW29; Publishers Weekly, [3]
  9. ^ Reviews of NGOization: Iqbal Ahmed, Progress in Development Studies, doi:10.1177/1464993415578568; Barış Gençer Baykan, Insight Turkey, JSTOR 26299770; Pádraig Carmody, The Journal of Development Studies, doi:10.1080/00220388.2014.891303; Andrzej Klimczuk, Journal for the Study of Radicalism, doi:10.14321/jstudradi.9.1.0173, JSTOR 10.14321/jstudradi.9.1.0173; Isaac Nkuna, New Agenda: South African Journal of Social and Economic Policy, hdl:10520/EJC162411; Steven Saxonberg, International Development Planning Review, doi:10.3828/idpr.2016.10; Matthew Scott, Community Development Journal, JSTOR 26166179
  10. ^ Reviews of Learning Activism: Jasper Finkeldey, Marx & Philosophy Review of Books, [4]; Mahdi Ganjavi, International Journal of Lifelong Education, doi:10.1080/02601370.2016.1164466; Junghwan Kim & Sarah M. Miller, Adult Education Quarterly, doi:10.1177/0741713617727282; J. Adam Perry, Canadian Journal for the Study of Adult Education, [5]; Nisha Thapliyal, International Journal of Lifelong Education, doi:10.1080/02601370.2015.1103100; Mehmet Ugur, Social Movement Studies, doi:10.1080/14742837.2017.1319273; Matthew Waugh & Angelina S. Lee, Canadian Journal of Education / Revue canadienne de l'éducation, JSTOR canajeducrevucan.39.2.09
  11. ^ Reviews of Just Work?: Naomi Alisa Calnitsky, Labour / Le Travail, JSTOR 44820653; Paul Clewett, LSE Review of Books, [6]; Katarina Hollan, BJIR: An International Review of Employment Relations, doi:10.1111/bjir.12454; Grigoris Markou, Anthropology of Work Review, doi:10.1111/awr.12140; Tania Ruiz-Chapman, Alternate Routes, [7]
  12. ^ Reviews of Unfree Labour?: Jason Foster, Labour / Le Travail, JSTOR 44820634; Sarah Marsden, BC Studies, [8]; Genevieve Ritchie, Adult Education Quarterly, doi:10.1177/0741713617711904; Manuel Salamanca, Revue Interventions économiques/Papers in Political Economy, doi:10.4000/interventionseconomiques.3439
  13. ^ Reviews of Reflections on Knowledge, Learning and Social Movements: Bob Boughton, Adult Education Quarterly, doi:10.1177/0741713620903285; Thabisile Griffin, Ufahamu: A Journal of African Studies, [9]
  14. ^ Review of Activists and the Surveillance State: Jeffrey Shantz, Surveillance & Society, doi:10.24908/ss.v17i3/4.13305
  15. ^ Reviews of The University and Social Justice: Kristina Hemzacek, Global Affairs, doi:10.1080/23340460.2020.1871303; Dale M. McCartney, Labour / Le Travail, JSTOR 27099001; Vineeta Singh, Lateral, JSTOR 48671640; Shreya Urvashi, LSE Review of Books, [10]
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