Paper Politics across Empires

Malika Zehni, Society of Fellows ('28), HKU

Date: 9 February 2026 (Mon)

Time: 5 PM (HKT)

Venue: RRST-4.36, 4/F, Run Run Shaw Tower,

Centennial Campus, HKU

All are welcome!

No registration required.

This talk traces travelers through different corners of the Eurasian world during the long nineteenth century as they navigated the bureaucratic labyrinths of empires. From transforming soap wrappers into makeshift passports to commissioning manuscript artists for forged residence permits, these individuals turned paper regimes into sites of creativity and contestation. Centering on these mobile lives, this exploration reveals how physical and administrative borders shaped migration, belonging, and imperial control. 

Malika Zehni is a historian of mobility and documentation in Central Asia whose research explores how mobile actors shaped bureaucratic regimes of empires. Her forthcoming book, Paper Chasers, traces pilgrims, labourers, and merchants asserting belonging across the borderlands of the Russian, Qing, Qajar, and British empires. Prior to joining HKU’s Society of Fellows, she held a Past & Present Fellowship and completed her PhD at the University of Cambridge. 

Paper Politics across Empires

Society of Fellows in the Humanities

www.sofhku.com

Department of History

DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY – The University of Hong Kong