A history of women in Afghanistan: lessons learnt for the future or yesterdays and tomorrow: women in Afghanistan.

Abstract

In this paper, through the history of women in Afghanistan, I want to locate the position of women in the future by lessons learnt from the past. Given Afghanistan's current situation of poverty, political disenfranchisement and social disarray, I argue that these very deficiencies could be maneuvered to favor the empowerment of women by redefining her role in the family and the community. Afghanistan's social development can only be ensured through democracy and the reduction of poverty, the success of both being assured through full participation of women, especially in rural Afghanistan. In this paper I would like to trace the history of women in Afghanistan for three main reasons. One, to show that women in Afghanistan were not always oppressed by fundamentalism as occurred under the Mujahideen and the Taliban. Second, to go back into history and reflect on regimes and politicians to show that women's issues were an integral part of national construction agendas even as far back as the 1920s. Third, to highlight the power of tribal/community leaders in defining the role of women and in successfully resisting any modernization that would challenge their patriarchal authority.

Key Words: Afghanistan, gender, history

Introduction

Afghanistan may be the only country in the world where during the last century kings and politicians have been made and undone by struggles relating to women's status. Recently, the situation of women under the Taliban rule has been center stage. The situation of women came to symbolize to Western military powers a justification of war in the name of freedom of women. But the situation of women in Afghanistan today is not only the result of the Taliban's policies. There is a history over the centuries of women's subjugation. Even in more recent times the Mujahideen's (2) (1992-1996) record is worse than the Taliban's. Thus, one must approach the analysis of women's situation in Afghanistan, not through the ideological formulation of 'before and after' the Taliban, but within the larger historical context of Afghanistan. Only such a perspective can ensure that women will be seen as integral to the rebuilding of the Afghan nation.

In this paper, through recounting the history of women in Afghanistan, I want to position women for the future through lessons learned from the past. The focus of this paper is on the importance of rural Afghanistan in the shaping of the nation and on women's status. Rural Afghanistan is the root of tribal powers that have frequently doomed Kabul-based modernization efforts. Social traditionalism and economic underdevelopment of rural Afghanistan have repeatedly contested the center (Kabul), thus a better understanding of tribal controlled areas is essential to empower women in these regions. For women in rural Afghanistan, control over their lives and gender roles is determined by patriarchal kinship arrangements. These kinship relationships are derived from the Quran and tribal traditions where men exercise unmitigated power over women. While Islam is deeply entrenched in the country, a hybridized compromise of Islamic and secular ideals of gender relations, along with economic reconstruction of rural Afghanistan will be proposed as a process towards enhancing women's status.

I argue that today, Afghanistan's economic marginalization, social disorder, and political dislocation can be conceptualized as "deficiencies" that women can maneuver to their advantage. Under the current conditions women could redefine their roles in the family and community in ways that improve both their and the nation's lives. Although economic reconstruction is primary, this reconstruction can be connected to wider social change and to building political democracy in ways that include women on new terms. In other words, Afghanistan's economic bankruptcy creates opportunities to renegotiate the division of labor along gender lines and to argue against the continued exclusion of women from the paid labor force. Afghanistan's social development can only be ensured through democracy and the reduction of poverty, the success of both being assured through full participation of women, especially in rural Afghanistan.

In this paper I trace the history of women in Afghanistan for three main reasons. One, to show that women in Afghanistan were not always oppressed by fundamentalism as occurred under the Mujahideen and the Taliban. (3) Two, to show that women's issues were an integral part of national construction agendas even as early as the 1920s. Three, to highlight the power of tribal/community leaders in defining the role of women and in successfully resisting any modernization that would challenge their patriarchal authority. This paper chronicles Afghanistan's political history to highlight the sporadic efforts made to empower women in an attempt to create a sense of nationhood. This is essential to explore because the political and powerful nature of tribal dictates in the Afghan countryside, and the oppositional ruling parties and elite are instrumental in determining the scope of women's lives. Women in Afghanistan are not an isolated institution; their fate is entwined with and determined by historical, political, social, economic and religious forces. In addition to a range of internal tensions, outside or international political forces have impacted Afghanistan in significant ways.

Two critical epochs in Afghan history have shaped gender dynamics and affected women's status in Afghanistan. The first period took place during the reign of Amanullah in 1923 and included rapid reforms to improve women's lives and women's position in the family. The reforms met with widespread protest and contributed to the ultimate demise of Amanullah's reign. The second period occurred under the leadership of the communist-backed Peoples Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA). This leadership forced an agenda of social change to empower women that led to the ten-year war between Afghanistan and the Soviet Union, the birth of the Mujahideen, and the decline of women's status. Despite the defeat of these reforms, the two eras provide evidence that Afghanistan has had a history of progressive efforts to provide women's rights and develop the basis for a more egalitarian society. At the same time, this historical review brings to light the significance of the rural/urban divide in Afghanistan. While Kabul has historically been the cosmopolitan center and will continue to lead the push for modernization in the future, any economic development must also include changes in the structure of power in rural regions. Such structural transformations are essential to the improvement of women's status in Afghanistan and can only happen when the countryside becomes an integral part of Afghanistan's new plans for economic development.

Brief Background

Afghanistan is very rugged in its topography and various ethnic, religious, and tribal groups sparsely populate it. According to Magnus and Naby (1998) the population of Afghanistan is approximately 14 million. The largest ethnic groups are Pashtuns at 40 percent and the Tajiks at 20 percent. The next largest groups are the Hazaras, Uzbeks and Aimaq. Both spatial and ethnic impenetrability has prevented Afghanistan from ever forming a consensual and coherent sense of nationalism. In addition, interference by western countries and countries bordering Afghanistan have contributed to the fragmentation of the Afghan polity. In many instances, tribal politics is still determined by ethnic loyalties to bordering states. Although there have been sporadic attempts to bring dissenting tribes together, at no point has the Afghan nation experienced a strong centralized state with a common legal system. (Moghadam, 1997) Instead, rival ethnic groups have had political ambitions to capture Kabul and, through well-armed tribal leaders (supported by external funds), created their own sovereignties. Ethnically based rivalries, combined with open and varied interpretations of Islam, have created fractious cultures.

The impact on women has been especially harsh, since women's lives have often been used as the raw material with which to establish ethnic prominence. Tribal laws and sanctions have routinely taken precedence over Islamic and constitutional laws in…