Premium
Understanding T aliban Resurgence: Ethno‐Symbolism and Revolutionary Mobilization
Author(s) -
Kamel Kareem
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
studies in ethnicity and nationalism
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.204
H-Index - 8
eISSN - 1754-9469
pISSN - 1473-8481
DOI - 10.1111/sena.12128
Subject(s) - ideology , mobilization , nationalism , ethnic group , islam , identity (music) , situational ethics , resistance (ecology) , sociology , political science , the symbolic , political economy , aesthetics , history , law , art , politics , psychology , archaeology , ecology , biology , psychoanalysis
This article argues that the post‐2001 T aliban resurgence was due to their capacity to act as resourceful ethnic entrepreneurs through selective usage of dominant Pashtun and Islamic mythomoteurs in the process of symbolic cultivation. Through comparative historical analysis and an ethno‐symbolist theoretical framework, it shows that the main identity determinants informing the movement's behaviour have played a fundamental role in the process of revolutionary mobilization. With A fghanistan as their territorial referent, the ideological lenses of Pashtun nationalism and Islamism, coupled with their situational ‘village’ lens, have been used interchangeably by the T aliban to shed light on specific symbolic resources for successful resistance.