The Department of Politics and International Studies (POLIS) is delighted to announce that Dr Farhana Afrin Rahman has been awarded the 2026 Global Division Outstanding Book Award by the Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP).
Dr Rahman received the accolade for her monograph, After the Exodus: Gender and Belonging in Bangladesh's Rohingya Refugee Camps (Cambridge University Press). The SSSP Global Division Outstanding Book Award recognizes published work of exceptional quality in the field of global issues and social problems, with a specific focus on encouraging critical scholarship. Based on 14 months of feminist ethnography within the Kutupalong-Balukhali refugee camp, Dr Rahman's research examines how forced migration from Myanmar has reshaped the lived experiences, gender relations, and identities of Rohingya women as they navigate humanitarian systems to rebuild their lives.
Reflecting on the achievement, Dr Rahman said:
"I am very grateful for this book award from the Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP) - Global Division. After the Exodus grew out of years of relationship-building with Rohingya refugee women in Bangladesh, and the book is ultimately my attempt to tell a story about their lives with honesty and care. To receive recognition from the SSSP - a community of scholars committed to critical epistemologies and global social justice - is genuinely humbling and a true honour."
The Department extends its warmest congratulations to Dr Rahman on this significant achievement and recognition of her research excellence. 'After the Exodus' also won the 2025 L.H.M. Ling Outstanding Book Prize from the British International Studies Association (BISA) and was shortlisted for the 2026 British Association for South Asian Studies (BASAS) Book Prize.
For further information regarding the award and the Society for the Study of Social Problems, please visit the SSSP Outstanding Book Award Page and the SSSP Global Division Page.