War and state (re)construction in Afghanistan: conflicts of tradition or conflicts of development?

Abstract

Foreign aid intended since 2001 for the (re)construction of the Afghan state has paradoxically amplified the ethnicization and sectarianization of economic and political relations, in total contradiction with the criteria of good governance advocated by donors. Apparently traditional or identity conflicts have multiplied, in fact referring to more fundamental contradictions between the culturalist representation of Afghan society and the effects of the country's insertion into the global capitalist economy. Thus, the fact of making Islamic radicalization, ethnic polarization or tribal atavism responsible for the social and political violence in Afghanistan denotes an incomplete vision of the situation, insofar as it does not take into account the transformations society and the new challenges of this supposedly traditional conflictuality.