Bazaar Politics: Power and Pottery in an Afghan Market Town
By Noah Coburn
()
About this ebook
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 Politics examines 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.
Read more from Noah Coburn
Modern Afghanistan: The Impact of 40 Years of War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLosing Afghanistan: An Obituary for the Intervention Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLosing Afghanistan: An Obituary for the Intervention Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnder Contract: The Invisible Workers of America's Global War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDerailing Democracy in Afghanistan: Elections in an Unstable Political Landscape Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Bazaar Politics
Related ebooks
Bazaar Politics: Power and Pottery in an Afghan Market Town Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCustom and Politics in Urban Africa: A Study of Hausa Migrants in Yoruba Towns Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIsma'ili Modern: Globalization and Identity in a Muslim Community Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Melancholia of Freedom: Social Life in an Indian Township in South Africa Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Primitive Selves: Koreana in the Japanese Colonial Gaze, 1910–1945 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5West of Kabul, East of San Francisco: An Autobiography Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsElsie Fox: Portrait of an Activist Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOttoman Brothers: Muslims, Christians, and Jews in Early Twentieth-Century Palestine Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Israeli Radical Left: An Ethics of Complicity Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAfghanistan’S Experiences: The History of the Most Horrifying Events Involving Politics, Religion, and Terrorism Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsColonial Effects: The Making of National Identity in Jordan Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNostalgia for the Future: West Africa after the Cold War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Passive Revolution: Absorbing the Islamic Challenge to Capitalism Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Passage to Afghanistan Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDear Zari: The Secret Lives of the Women of Afghanistan Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Building Nations with Non-Nationals Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsImmigrant Japan: Mobility and Belonging in an Ethno-nationalist Society Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAs the Dust Devils Danced: “God, Pashtun Honor, Opium and Stability in Uruzgan, Afghanistan” Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOwen Sound: The Port City Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Talk Till The Minutes Run Out Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVilyatpur 1848-1968: Social and Economic Change in a North Indian Village Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe History of Arab - Jewish Conflict: 1881-1948 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe souls of white folk: White settlers in Kenya, 1900s–1920s Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAfrican Americans of St. Lawrence County: North Country Pioneers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWe Are Afghan Women: Voices of Hope Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An Unpromising Land: Jewish Migration to Palestine in the Early Twentieth Century Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCry of Angels: The Wrath of War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBetween Empire and Nation: Muslim Reform in the Balkans Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsZWELETHU: Our Land: Jaki Seroke A Memoir Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Middle Eastern History For You
America is the True Old World, Volume II: The Promised Land Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sumerians: A History From Beginning to End Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5NRSV, Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible: Bringing to Life the Ancient World of Scripture Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ten Myths About Israel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How the West Came to Rule: The Geopolitical Origins of Capitalism Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: Complete Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Shall Not Hate: A Gaza Doctor's Journey on the Road to Peace and Human Dignity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Second Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Can We Talk About Israel?: A Guide for the Curious, Confused, and Conflicted Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Code of Hammurabi Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What Justice Demands: America and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Gaza: An Inquest into Its Martyrdom Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lemon Tree: An Arab, a Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beyond Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hundred Years' War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917–2017 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Case for Israel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Six Day War: The Breaking of the Middle East Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Arabs and Jews in Ottoman Palestine: Two Worlds Collide Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIsrael and Palestine: The Complete History [2019 Edition] Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Except for Palestine: The Limits of Progressive Politics Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The Palestine-Israel Conflict: A Basic Introduction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Seven Pillars of Wisdom (Rediscovered Books): A Triumph Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Palestine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Israel: A Concise History of a Nation Reborn Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for Bazaar Politics
0 ratings0 reviews