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.
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
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.
^Reviews of Fight Back: Habiba Zaman, "Racialization and marginalization of immigrants: a new wave of xenophobia in Canada", Labour / Le Travail, JSTOR20799037; Sheila Wilmot, Socialist Studies/Études Socialistes, doi:10.18740/S4RK5F
^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, JSTOR23256172
^Reviews of Organize!: Ian Hussey, Race, Class and Empire, doi:10.18740/S4DW29; Publishers Weekly, [3]
^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, JSTORcanajeducrevucan.39.2.09
^Reviews of Just Work?: Naomi Alisa Calnitsky, Labour / Le Travail, JSTOR44820653; 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]
^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]
^Review of Activists and the Surveillance State: Jeffrey Shantz, Surveillance & Society, doi:10.24908/ss.v17i3/4.13305
^Reviews of The University and Social Justice: Kristina Hemzacek, Global Affairs, doi:10.1080/23340460.2020.1871303; Dale M. McCartney, Labour / Le Travail, JSTOR27099001; Vineeta Singh, Lateral, JSTOR48671640; Shreya Urvashi, LSE Review of Books, [10]