Past Projects

Shared communities: A multinational qualitative study of immigrant and receiving community members.

Working with colleagues at the University of Salento in Lecce, Italy and University of Turino in Turin, Italy, the Making Words Count Lab studied attitudes, experiences, and sense of community among immigrants and receiving community members in three settings. This study explored the ways in which the receiving community and its members impact the desire for, possibility of, and outcomes of acculturation and creating a new sense of home.

Community Matters: Psychological sense of community, resilience, well-being, and the COVID-19 pandemic

Responding to this global crisis, our diverse team of researchers from the Making Words Count Lab along with scholars at University of Salento in Lecce, Italy and University of Turino in Turin, Italy, employed validated measures from the field of community psychology to explore the bidirectional associations between psychological sense of community (PSOC), community resilience, and well-being prior to, during, and after COVID-19 restrictions. Utilizing a multilingual, online survey distributed on three continents at two time points, we measured demographics, individual and community conditions, individual, local, and national responses to the pandemic, changes to community interactions, community resilience, and individual sense of community and well-being across the course of the pandemic.

With All Our Strength: The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan. New York: Routledge, 2003. [Paperback edition, (2004)].
Por Baixo da Burca. Sao Paulo, Brasil: A Senhora Editora [Portuguese translation].

Critical Acclaim for With All Our Strength

“Heavily sprinkled with perceptive interviews.” — Publishers Weekly

“[G]roundbreaking…The first writer with in-depth access to RAWA, Brodsky writes a passionate narrative…[S]tands out as a lone and important study of a remarkable organization.” — Publishers Weekly
“A ring side view of RAWA, the extraordinary women’s movement that is as doggedly committed to democracy as it is to dreaming of another, better world.” — Arundhati Roy
“With All Our Strength is the first political history of Afghanistan told through women’s eyes. Afghan women have always been depicted as the victims of war and mass destruction, but Brodsky shows us that real and powerful women live behind the veil and she has given them a voice and a history. This is the story of those defiant Afghan women who never succumbed or surrendered to extremism or despair and who want nothing more than to build peace and democracy in their county. A powerful story.” — Ahmed Rashid, author of Taliban and Jihad

“Anne Brodsky goes behind the headlines to look closely at a unique organization that according to popular stereotypes of Afghan women should not exist. RAWA is a militant, secular, feminist, pro-democracy movement run by women. Brodsky shows us how ordinary women, including those who are illiterate and who have experienced traumatic violence, can become powerful agents of social and political change. Combining scholarship with empathy, Brodsky produces a fascinating book.” — Katha Pollitt
“The work of RAWA must stand as a model for every group that struggles against the twin evils of oppression and violence. Anne Brodsky’s account reveals the boundless courage of these warrior women, who have fought for basic human dignity while the rest of the world looked away.” — Eve Ensler, author of The Vagina Monologues
“Anne Brodsky writes a comprehensive history of this courageous women’s organization with passion and sensitivity. Through candid interviews, RAWA members tell the history of their country through the story of their organization’s 26-year struggle against the extreme forces on the left and the right. This book is a testament to not only the legacy of RAWA, but to Brodsky’s own commitment to this organization and its unflinching advocacy for women’s rights and secular democracy in Afghanistan.” — Sunita Mehta, editor of Women for Afghan Women: Shattering Myths and Claiming theFuture
“RAWA is a reminder…that truth and justice do eventually prevail. They have been a source of inspiration to hundreds of young Afghans and to the women’s groups in Pakistan. Their struggle has been long and under immense pressure, yet their resolve has never wavered.” — Asma Jahangir, Advocate Supreme Court of Pakistan, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, UN Special Rapporteur

“Author Anne E. Brodsky destroys the myth that Afghani women have placidly accepted the oppression and torture of fundamentalist rule.” — Real Change
“The author does an excellent job providing the reader with a perspective on RAWA’s day-to-day activities and the challenges its members face…With All Our Strength provides a useful introduction to RAWA’s history, philosophy, and inner workings.” — The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences