Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
The humanitarian intervention in Afghanistan following the 2001 invasion is one of the largest and most expensive interventions in history, but most analysis tends to focus on the perspective of individual external actors or policies. Security, Development and the Stories of Everyday Conflict in Afghanistan, on the other hand, focuses on the realities of the Afghan intervention for those that live and work there, both local and external, highlighting the diversity, relationships and interdependence of the various groups. Drawing on five years of experience living and working in Afghanistan, Althea-Maria Rivas explores the micro-level interactions between different actors, showing how communities, soldiers, aid workers, UN officials and local leaders navigated shifting security, development and conflict dynamics.
Starting with a contextual introduction to the intervention and the key debates surrounding it, the book goes on to explore the stories of security and development as constructed through official policy discourse, and then through the lived experiences of interveners and civilians and local actors. Finally, the book highlights what the book's findings mean both for what we know about Afghanistan and for how we understand international peace interventions and local level dynamics between actors who live and work in spaces of conflict. Security, Development and the Stories of Everyday Conflict in Afghanistan will be of considerable interest to scholars and professionals with an interest in Afghanistan, aid work, humanitarian intervention, development studies, and peace and conflict studies.
Synopsis
Security, Development and Violence in Afghanistan provides a unique insight into the lived realities of the international intervention in Afghanistan and highlights the diversity, relationships and interdependence of various groups including both external actors and Afghan communities. Analysis of the international intervention in Afghanistan following the post 9/11 invasion in 2001, one of the largest and most expensive in history, tends to focus on the perspective of organizational dynamics and policies or external actors. Drawing on the author's five years of experience living and working in Afghanistan, this book uses ethnographic methodologies to explore the micro-level interactions between different actors, showing how communities, soldiers, aid workers, UN officials and local leaders navigated shifting security, development and conflict dynamics.
Starting with a contextual introduction to the intervention and the key debates surrounding it, this book goes on to explore the stories of security, development and violence as constructed through official policy discourse, and then through the lived experiences of interveners and civilians and local actors. The book weaves a compelling narrative which links local and global issues and focuses on the everyday practices, relationships and acts of resistance which take place in two provinces of Afghanistan. Finally, the author highlights what this book's findings mean both for what we know about Afghanistan and for how we understand international interventions and the everyday dynamics between actors who live and work in spaces of conflict.
Security, Development and Violence in Afghanistan: Everyday Stories of Intervention will be of considerable interest to scholars and professionals with an interest in Afghanistan, aid work, humanitarian intervention, development studies, and peace and conflict studies.