Dynamics of Contentious Politics in Afghanistan, 2001-2016
Date
2017
Authors
Ibrahimi, Niamatullah
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Abstract
This thesis examines dynamics of statebuilding and social
mobilisation in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2016 and seeks to
contribute to two sets of scholarly literature. First, it aims to
contribute to better understanding of the complexity of the
post-2001 international intervention and statebuilding in
Afghanistan. Second, it aims to contribute to broader literature
on contentious politics by extending its theoretical insights to
explore dynamics of social movements in the context of a fragile
state
The thesis investigates how state fragility, characterised by
weakness in extending its authority, in providing public
services, and in developing effective and legitimate
institutions, can shape contentious politics, and whether state
weakness creates conditions that benefit some movements over
others. It combines a relational and mechanism-based approach
with a multi-institutional view of politics and society and
highlights the nature and dimensions of change and conflict. This
is achieved by studying four groups and three protest events in
Afghanistan.
Through detailed analysis of the four groups, which provide
examples of broadly liberal, left-leaning and Islamist movements
in the country, as well as analysis of three mass protest events,
the thesis argues that the character and strength of the state
has a number of important implications for contentious politics.
First, while the institutions of liberal democracy, and parallel
processes of exposure of Afghan society to globalisation between
2001 and 2016, helped give rise to a new generation of activists,
the highly-centralised institutional structure combined with
institutional discouragement of political parties and
predominance of patron-client relations drove a new generation of
activists towards street politics. Consequently, the
neopatrimonial character of the state and dominance of
patron-client relations discouraged a younger generation of
activists from directly participating in the affairs of state.
Second, based on the type and level of statebuilding programmes
and policies, the thesis identified four responses by the case
study groups towards the post-2001 international intervention and
statebuilding process: reformist, transformationist, rejectionist
and partial rejectionist.
These case studies show that while these groups tend to be
ideologically oriented towards certain strategic responses, in
general policy-level contention and social movement formation
were undermined by deeper programmatic and foundational
conflicts. Furthermore, these group-level responses were the
outcomes of collective attribution of threats and opportunities
in a strategic environment that was shaped by a multitude of
actors, including non-state and anti-state actors. Mass protests
were closely linked to a period of particular decline in state
authority and capacity to provide security and services from 2014
to 2016. The three protest events, the largest of their kind
during this period, were collective responses to state failures
to provide security and basic public services. Finally, while the
Islamists have tended to be more successful in building
organisations and reaching out to masses and even assuming some
state-like functions such as providing services, it was not clear
that these organisational gains would necessarily lead to
political advantages as in winning elections. Furthermore, the
more successful Islamist organisations also appropriated a wide
range of secular socio-economic and political responses which may
shape their long-term political orientations.
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contentious politics, social movements, international intervention, statebuilding, state fragility
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Thesis (PhD)
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