Interface between State and Society in Afghanistan Discussion on Key Social Features affecting Governance, Reconciliation and Reconstruction Raphy Favre February 2005 1 SUMMARY The two main concepts analyzed in the Interface between State and Society discussion paper are the notions of ”qawm” and “manteqa” which are common characteristics of the Afghan society. The paper discusses the implication of these notions in the relation between the State and the Society as a central issue of governance and reconstruction. It poses the question on how to get “there” at the local level and implement government policies: • The discussion paper hypothesis is that the failure of successive government administration in Afghanistan is partly due to a failed interface between the State apparatus and the Society. Therefore, the form of interaction between the new government and the Afghan society will determine how successful this administration will perform as compared to the previous ones. • The Afghan society is structured in “qawm” or “networks” which have taken an international dimension over the past 25 years of war. The “qawm” had a dual effect in Afghanistan’s history; on the one hand it has prevented the central government to promote modernity while on the other hand it has been a crucial “social capital” for the resilience of the Afghan society to external shocks such as war, drought and failed governance. However, shaped by “qawm”, the Afghan society is a “fragmented network society” which is resulting in poor “socio-political” representation of its members. • Beside the concept of “qawm”, the place/region from where a person is originating/living or the “manteqa” is an element shaping identity and solidarity in Afghanistan. The paper shows through a case study and more generally field observations throughout the country that the “manteqa” is the actual social and territorial unit of rural Afghanistan. A “manteqa” is composed of several villages or cluster settlements/hamlets where solidarity is shaped amongst the local population. • The “manteqa” do not have administrative recognition, although traditional structures/committees exist at the “manteqa” level (i.e. “shura-e manteqa”, “rish safedan- e manteqa”, “nomayendagan-e manteqa” or “shura-e mahali”. • The administrative structure of the government of Afghanistan is divided into provinces, districts and villages. However, no mapping or listing have captured the complexity of villages in Afghanistan, so much the notion of village is unclear and bound to a variety of interpretation. This lack of clear interface has hampered the interaction between the State and the Society in the past. The “manteqa” and their committee are the missing interactive links between the district administration and the settlement/hamlet. • From preliminary work in identifying “manteqa”, the author estimates that the total number of “manteqa” in Afghanistan is probably in the range of 3,000 to 4,000. A number which is indeed far easier to support than 20,000 to 40,000 settlements/villages or NSP (National Solidarity Program) shura of various size and nature. The paper recommends promoting ownership of the Afghan society over public affairs at local level through a process of strengthening representative local organizations or “shura” at appropriate level. The “manteqa” level seems adapted as it reflects the underlying social structure of rural Afghanistan. Beside “governance” and “reconstruction” issues, the paper raises other more outstanding matter, which is the question of “reconciliation”. The promotion of structures promoting representation of population at local level can indeed play a significant role to the reconciliation process of Afghanistan. 2 TABLE OF CONTENT 1. Introduction 2. The notion of “Qawm” and “Manteqa” 2.1 Afghanistan or a Society structured in “Qawm” 2.2 The place of living or the “Manteqa” 2.3 Case Study in Jaghori District 3. Working with “Shura-e Manteqa” or Communal Council 4. Conclusion and Recommendations BIBLIOGRAPHY ANNEXES ANNEX I – The District before and after the War 1. The district before 1978 2. The district since 1978 ANNEX II – The Notion of Village in Afghanistan 3 1. Introduction Virtually all the Afghan leaders since the represented the community to the State early 19th century had known the fate of (at district level) and vice versa the State either being assassinated or forced into to the community. exile. From 1978 on-ward Afghanistan had experienced the Soviet invasion and The difficulty of any pre-war undergone two and half decades of Government in Afghanistan was that the resistance and civil war. Kabul, the Afghan society had no limited territory capital of Afghanistan, has been and power structures on which the State destroyed by the political warring could adopt a strategy to take factions in three years of civil strives and possession. The Afghan society was not since the early 1990s four different feudal. The power structure in the regimes have controlled the capital, Afghan society was not a defined place ruling only bits and pieces of or person, but a multitude of elusive and Afghanistan. Beyond the bad news for constantly renegotiated networks or “would be” presidents of Afghanistan, “qawms”. While the State apparatus the poor records express the continuous tried to delineate village communities failure of the Afghan State to establish that can be managed by the headmen positive interface with the society. Worst (“malek”, “qariadar”, “khan”, “kad khida” the State had alienated the society when or “arbab”), the society responded by attempting to control it, resulting in the trying to link its “qawms” to the State dramatic fate of the Afghan nation. The apparatus in order to access resources. “Iron Amir” Abder Rahman, King of Favoritism and corruption had Afghanistan between 1880 and 1901 - constituted effective forms of rejection of but also the founder of Afghanistan as a the government by the society. Roy nation-state - nicknamed his country notes that the “jihad” has been declared “Yaghestan”1 or “Land of the Insolent”, when this government, judged non- “Land of Rebellion” or “Land of believer, could not be infiltrated any Freedom”. longer by the “qawm”. In order to extend the control of the However, more than two decades of war society, the government divided the had profoundly re-shaped the Afghan country in provinces, themselves sub- society and new structures have divided in districts or “uluswali”, The emerged. On the one hand, the war, by government or “hokumat” notes Olivier resulting in massive migrations had Roy 2 , differentiated itself significantly internationalized the Afghan “qawm” from the society; Western style clothing, rendering them even more elusive and administrative languages and self-reliant. On the other hand, at local expressions, etc. An intermediary was level, the society had been reshaped therefore necessary to communicate. around new leaders that have emerged The head of a village, “malek”, with the war; the commanders and their “qariadar”, “khan”, “kad khida” or “arbab” fragmented territorial authority. 1 See, Mike Barry, ”Le Royaume de l'insolence - la So-far, the new administration of the résistance afghane, du Grand Moghol à l'invasion transitional afghan government has soviétique”, 1984 2 Olivier Roy, ”L’Afghanistan: Islam et modernité characterized itself by anything but very politique”, Coll. Esprit/Seuil, 1985. limited interactions. The last FAO/WFP 4 report3 notes that “payments of salaries The form of interaction between the new to civil servants have become more government and the Afghan society will regularized albeit still with delays in the determine how successful this provinces. But there has been virtually administration will perform as compared no non-salary spending in the provinces, to the previous ones. This short paper resulting in a less effective interface aims at contributing to the development between the government and of an effective interface between State population”. The report states further and society in Afghanistan. that “one of the immediate challenges is to sharply increase reconstruction funding and the share of such funding going through government budget channels and in support of national priorities, while further improving the alignment of continuing humanitarian assistance with government leadership and the National Development Framework (NDF)”. 3 FAO/WFP, “Crop and Food Supply Assessment Mission to Afghanistan (CFSAM)”, 13 August 2003. www.fao.org 5 2. The notions of “Qawm” and “Manteqa” 2.1 Afghanistan or a Society structured in “Qawm” The Afghan society had to organize external chocks and failed governance. itself for the last 2 decades without the It should be noted here that “traditional” presence of a functional government. is not necessarily “tribal”, since not all Indeed, the war and the collapse of the the Afghan society is tribal (Tajik State structure in Afghanistan farmers, urbanized population, strengthened the solidarity networks or merchants, etc.). However, the entire “qawm” 4 in which resources are Afghan society is structured by social channelled along social lines. Before the networks7 (“qawm”)8. war, several observers already noted the antagonist relations between the In rural areas, the society structure is “qawm” and the State structures. tribal (Pashtun, Hazara) or arranged Observers during the Soviet war 5 around family lineages. The strongest showed that the traditional society and form of solidarity is therefore tribal or its networks were more effective than along family lineage, but other forms of the military resistance to the penetration solidarity may also exist. Therefore, the of the central government at different “qawm” in rural Afghanistan relates level of the society 6 . The organization mostly to family/clan relations. In town, and functioning of the “qawm” in relation the society is more diverse and social of the drought and the Taliban regime is relations/reciprocities may be across little studied, but it was certainly family lineages. Solidarity networks are essential to the resilience of the Afghan related to lineage, but may also be society to external stresses and failed related to profession (trade corporation, governance.