Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
http://hdl.handle.net/2123/8263
|
| Title: | Identity Politics - A Case Study of Afghanistan |
| Authors: | Yunespour, Ali Reza Department of Government and International Relations |
| Issue Date: | 2011 |
| Abstract: | Identity politics is a complex concept. However, it is rarely studied in the context of weak non-Western states. This study seeks to study identity politics in Afghanistan with a focus on ethnic and sectarian identities. The central hypothesis is that the manipulation and instrumentalisation of ethnic and sectarian identities as sources of political legitimacy have significantly constrained efforts towards state-building in Afghanistan. By taking a historical perspective, it shows that identity politics is not a new phenomenon in Afghanistan and that a weak historical state and widespread culture of poverty have caused, sustained and reinforced ethnic and sectarian identity politics over time. It will also demonstrate that ethnic and sectarian identity politics have been a dominant feature of Afghanistan’s post-Taliban statebuilding. Ethnic and sectarian identity politics have seriously undermined the process of statebuilding as they have prevented, amongst other things, a meaningful national reconciliation and the development of an effective state-society relation and a national identity in Afghanistan in the past decade. |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/2123/8263 |
| Department/Unit/Centre: | Department of Government and International Relations |
| Rights and Permissions: | The author retains copyright of this thesis |
| Type of Work: | Thesis, Honours |
| Appears in Collections: | Honours Theses - Government and International Relations |
Files in This Item:
|
Items in Sydney eScholarship Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.