On August 5-9, I embarked on a wonderful academic experience in Manchester, UK.
I’m grateful for the opportunity to present my paper, “Network Fragility after USAID: Donor Centrality & the Bridging Link Fallacy in Development Governance,” at the 2026 PolNet Conference at the University of Manchester.
This was my sixth PolNet conference, an academic community that I have appreciated for almost ten years. I’m truly grateful for such a successful & beautiful conference experience.
I presented a refinement of work I first shared earlier this year at the Social Capital Conference: an emerging framework from my ongoing research on the efficacy of development policy networks. I explore network resilience and fragility in Pakistan, with comparative extensions to Afghanistan and the MENA region, while engaging social capital & network theories.
My commitment to PolNet goes back 9 years, from helping organize the conference with my professor at my PhD university to presenting my work through both panels & posters. Returning with a framework grown out of my dissertation research, fieldwork, and continued ‘critical reflexivity’ about development was truly special.
I loved the keynote, delivered by a renowned physicist, Prof. Frank Schweitzer, who explored the notion of resilience through agent-based modeling. I appreciated encountering the concept I’ve explored through a different methodological lens in network science.
Manchester itself was wonderful and the University was truly magnificent.
I’m grateful for the people, the conversations, the kindness, and just the opportunity to be there.
I must say that the best part was seeing my Pilgrim buddy for the first time since Umrah during Ramadan last year. My brother Sabih, traveled about 5 hours each way by train after my conference to meet me. We took the historic walk through Manchester, visited the Science and Industry Museum and the John Rylands Library (continuing my tradition of visiting libraries during travels). At the library we explored Islamic, biblical, & medieval scriptures dating back centuries. While having conversations about navigating academia as Muslim Americans we enjoyed signature halal cuisines and the gentleness of Mancunians in Northern England.
I appreciate being able to learn about life across the ocean while having the opportunity to present at conferences. I have had several opportunities over the years, and as a scholar who’s passionate about fieldwork, learning through my travels abroad has always been where I thrive the most.
Academic journeys are never as linear as we expect. The role of resilience is vital: be present, develop arguments through rigorous, iterative research, ask better questions, and try again and again.
I must express my sincere gratitude to all who helped me get to Manchester and continue this journey. I appreciate those who support, and even those who simply understand my own resilience & the larger mission behind my initiative, “Rise Beyond Margins: Empowering Inclusive Scholarship.”
I greatly appreciate the APSA Political Networks Section for the travel grant support & the scholarly community.
I hope to present another refined iteration of this research in an IPE session at the APSA Annual Meeting next week.
I plan to update this post with my Qi newsletter edition on the Manchester and APSA experience.
But here are few recent editions of The Qualitative Inquisition:
Building Community-Powered Research: Reconceptualizing Investment in Nonlinear Academic Journeys
Hope to share more updates from my forthcoming APSA conference experience soon!
If you wish to support my community-powered educational crowdfunding campaign, please feel free to learn more HERE.
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