Bazaar Politics

by Coburn, Noah

• ISBN13: 9780804776721
• ISBN10: 0804776725
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-09-28
• Publisher: Stanford Univ Pr

Summary

After the fall of the Taliban, instability reigned across Afghanistan. However, in the small town of Istalif, located a little over an hour north of Kabul and not far from Bagram on the Shomali Plain, local politics remained relatively violence-free. Bazaar Politicsexamines this seemingly paradoxical situation, exploring how the town's local politics maintained peace despite a long, violent history in a country dealing with a growing insurgency. At the heart of this story are the Istalifi potters, skilled craftsmen trained over generations. With workshops organized around extended families and competition between workshops strong, kinship relations become political and subtle negotiations over power and authority underscore most interactions. Starting from this microcosm, Noah Coburn then investigates power and relationships at various levels, from the potters' families; to the local officials, religious figures, and former warlords; and ultimately to the international community and NGO workers. Offering the first long-term on-the-ground study since the arrival of allied forces in 2001, Noah Coburn introduces readers to daily life in Afghanistan through portraits of local residents and stories of his own experiences. He reveals the ways in which the international community has misunderstood the forces driving local conflict and the insurgency, misunderstandings that have ultimately contributed to the political unrest rather than resolved it. Though on first blush the potters of Istalif may seem far removed from international affairs, it is only through understanding politics, power, and culture on the local level that we can then shed new light on Afghanistan's difficult search for peace.

Author Biography

Noah Coburn has worked as a specialist for the United States Institute of Peace in Kabul, Afghanistan, as well as a researcher for the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit and the Aga Khan Trust for Culture. Between 2006 and 2008, he spent eighteen months doing research in an Afghan village on the Shomali Plain. He holds a PhD in anthropology from Boston University and has taught at the University of Michigan, Boston University, and Skidmore College.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
A Rocky Road	p. 1
Groups and Violence	p. 5
Ethnography and Suspicion	p. 17
Social Organization in Istalif	p. 22
Making Pots	p. 32
How Making Pots Bound People Together	p. 34
The Art of Finding a Bargain	p. 50
How Selling Pots Tore People Apart	p. 53
Telling Stories	p. 73
Leadership, Descent, and Marriage	p. 76
Dinner	p. 103
Cultural Definitions of Power in Istalif	p. 106
Election Day	p. 142
Masterly Inactivity: The Politics of Stagnation	p. 145
The Director of Intelligence	p. 180
The Afghan State as a Useful Fiction	p. 182
Paktya-Eighteen Months Later	p. 206
Thinking About Violence, Social Organization, and International Intervention	p. 208
Notes	p. 225
Bibliography	p. 239
Index	p. 247
Photographs follow page	p. 66
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