Local Politics in Afghanistan
A Century of Intervention in the Social Order
Format:Hardback
Publisher:C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd
Published:22nd Mar '13
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
Afghanistan's people have contended with an almost continuous series of foreign interventions in their local affairs in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Not only have external powers such as British India, the Soviet Un- ion, Pakistan and NATO meddled egregiously in local affairs, but so have Afghan governments, including monarchical, Communist, Islamist and ostensibly democratic ones. While the robust resilience of the Afghan population in the face of external influence is widely recognised, how the local populations have concretely dealt with these interventions and how local politics is structured in Afghanistan still remain somewhat open questions. This volume sheds light on this phenomenon as well as illuminating the complexities of local politics in Afghanistan, analysing also how the local social order is disturbed or reinforced by outside intervention. It also advances our understanding of Afghan society by presenting local politics in a way that frees it from the false binary of romanticisation and demonisation. A central theme is understanding how rational objectives play out in local politics and are guided by social factors such as trust, solidarity, reciprocity and patronage. The book also explores the role jirgas and shuras have played in negotiating between the local and external interventionists.
'Local Politics in Afghanistan should do for the micro-study of Afghanistan what Decoding the New Taliban did for Taliban studies. Schetter's edited volume is an engaging set of essays on the dynamics of the local level of activity and how this intersects with other agendas - - whether imposed from outside by foreigners/internationals or from the Afghan government itself.' * Alex Strick van Linschoten, co-editor of My Life With the Taliban and Poetry of the Taliban *
'Conrad Schetter has brought together a set of valuable, in-depth studies of local-level society and politics in Afghanistan, some written by anthropologists who revisited their field sites after decades of wars and upheaval. This book demonstrates the enormous complexity and variety of local conditions and, by implication, reveals the element of hubris that framed the US-led engagement after 2001.' * Astri Suhrke, Chr. Michelsen Institute, author of When More is Less: The International Project in Afghanistan *
'So much attention has been paid to the building of a central state in Afghanistan since 2001 that Afghanistan's fascinating local politics, which touch far more directly on the lives of ordinary people, have received less attention than they deserve. Conrad Schetter's new collection, drawing together the cream of specialists on Afghanistan, fills this gap perfectly. It is essential reading for everyone concerned about where Afghanistan is heading.' * William Maley, Australian National University, author of Rescuing Afghanistan *
ISBN: 9781849042635
Dimensions: 225mm x 156mm x 21mm
Weight: unknown
362 pages