A study of social developments in Afghanistan from the rise to the fall of the Taliban

Subject Areas : Historical Geography of Iran

samane saeedi ¹ , Sina Foroozesh ² , majidreza rajabi ³

1 - Department of History and Archaeology, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
2 - Department of History and Archaeology, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
3 - Department of History, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Tehran

Received: 2025-05-02 Accepted : 2025-08-05 Published : 2025-11-29

Keywords: Taliban, social changes in Afghanistan, Soviet Jihad, Pashtunwali, tribal discourse, state-nation building.,

Abstract :

The social and political developments in Afghanistan in recent decades, especially during the rise and early rule of the Taliban, have deep roots in the traditional, tribal, and cultural structures of this society. The rise of the Taliban as a fundamentalist movement was not simply a political phenomenon, but rather a complex reaction to social changes, the weakness of nation-building, and the ineffectiveness of the Mujahideen after the Soviet withdrawal. This study examines these social developments in detail and the role of various factors such as tribal, religious, and political discourses in the formation and consolidation of Taliban rule.
The present study uses a historical-analytical method. The required information and data have been collected in documentary and library form, citing reference texts. Then, by analyzing these data, the causal relationships between social and political phenomena are explained. How did the social changes in Afghanistan during the Jihad against the Soviet Union provide the basis for the emergence and acceptance of the Taliban discourse? It seems that the weakness of government institutions, the weakening of the power of the khans, the increasing influence of the clergy in rural areas, and the people's disappointment with the performance of the Mujahideen provided the basis for the acceptance of a discourse that emphasized traditional, tribal, and religious values ​​and promised security and justice. .

References:

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