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Abstract
This article examines embodied geopolitics in Afghanistan by way of gender roles and relations among and between international workers and Afghan recipients of international information, aid, development and (in)security. My analysis is theoretically situated within critical feminist geographies and includes empirical data collected from qualitative surveys, interviews, focus groups and observations of Afghans and international workers in Kabul, Afghanistan (2006–2008). There is a significant and growing number of scholarly feminist critiques of and debates over the US-led international coalition's gendered approach to ‘saving’ Afghanistan from the Taliban. This article seeks to add to these studies by discussing these geopolitical encounters at the scale of bodily interactions. Specifically, it discusses how gendered freedom and savior fantasies illustrate spatial practices of othering through exclusion and intimacy, before turning to how these are enacted through representation, behavior, mobility and sexuality.
Este artículo analiza la geopolítica corporizada en Afganistán por medio de las relaciones y roles de género entre trabajadores y trabajadoras internacionales y los/as receptores/as afganos/as de información, ayuda, desarrollo e (in)seguridad internacionales. Desde el punto de vista teórico, mi análisis se sitúa dentro de las geografías feministas críticas e incluye datos empíricos tomados de encuestas cualitativas, entrevistas, grupos de enfoque y observaciones de trabajadores y trabajadoras afganos/as e internacionales en Kabul, Afganistán (2006-2008). Existe un número importante y creciente de críticas y debates desde el ámbito académico feminista, sobre el enfoque generizado de la coalición internacional liderada por los EE. UU. en cuanto a ‘salvar’ a Afganistán de los talibanes. Intento hacer un aporte a estos estudios debatiendo sobre estos encuentros geopolíticos a la escala de las interacciones corporales. Específicamente, examino cómo la libertad generizada y las fantasías de salvación ilustran las prácticas espaciales de alterizar a través de la exclusión y la intimidad, para luego centrarme en cómo estas son realizadas a través de la representación, el comportamiento, la movilidad y la sexualidad.
Acknowledgements
Thank you to Deborah Dixon for organizing the series of AAG presentations and panel discussion on feminist geopolitics, which led to this themed section. I would also like to acknowledge and thank Deborah for her exceptional editorial assistance and support. I truly appreciate the tremendously insightful and helpful comments and suggestions provided by the anonymous reviewers. I would also like to thank Richa Nagar, Mona Domosh, Chris Sneddon, David Edwards, Rebecca Biron, Denise Anthony, Chris Wohlforth and the Dickey Center for International Understanding for their constructive feedback on an early draft of this article.
Notes
1. Mujahidin (holy war warriors) were separate religious and ethnically based factions that resisted the Soviet occupation. Seven Sunni-Islam groups received the bulk of US financial support. A notable example of the political uses of humanitarian aid during the Soviet occupation was the requirement that refugees affiliate with one of the seven Sunni Mujahidin groups in order to receive aid in Pakistan refugee camps (Goodhand Citation2002).
2. Attempting to control Afghan women and men from the state rather than from familial influence was a significant aspect of Taliban politics. Influences over the lives of women during the Taliban era both oppressed women and emasculated men from their privileged placement over women's lives (Kandiyoti Citation2007).
3. For example, the decision-making and conceptualization of choice in marriage is based on a complex and multiple sets of factors and a variety of family influences from both genders. In addition to these complexities, personal family decision-making may also be mitigated by outside political and apolitical forces such as poverty, fear, insecurity and forced mobility (Kandiyoti Citation2007; Smith 2009).
4. Research assistants included both local men and women who were university students. They were trained by the author and accompanied the author on several interviews before conducting their own. The author also hired a US-based research assistant who assisted with data collection and coding.
5. Participants were selected through snowball or chain sampling methods.
6. The burqa, known as the chadori in Afghanistan, is a garment worn by women in public space. This garment includes a cap that fits snugly on the head with a long flowing and pleated fabric that covers a woman's clothed body. The garment is worn floor length at the back and to the waist in front (without sleeves) the front portion often includes an embroidered design along the trim. When the burqa is drawn in front, the woman's face will be covered (with a mesh screen over the eyes). Women commonly remove the burqa from their faces when traversing public space when men are not in sight. Women will bring the chadori/burqa down over their eyes in the presence or within sight of a man who is not a mahram (close male relative, see note 10).
7. Those who did not wear a headscarf included women of various ages, backgrounds and religions. The one commonality among these women was their belief that the headscarf and to a larger extent the chadori/burqa was oppressive to women.
8. For example, respondents were not directly asked about their use of the headscarf (or lack thereof), however, the ‘headscarf/burqa issue’ was brought up by nearly all female respondents as part of their experiences or beliefs during the interview process.
9. These responses were provided through anonymous surveys rather than face-to-face interviews.
10. Mahram is a close male relative such as brother, father, grandfather, uncle, husband, son or grandson.
11. These signs are also posted outside restaurants that serve alcohol, because the consumption of alcohol is illegal in Afghanistan.
12. Kabul Compound refers to a shopping area that is open on Fridays for internationals. This structure is secured by a fenced perimeter with concrete structures, sandbags and laser-wire, and monitored by armed security personnel. One must have a foreign passport (or be accompanied by a foreigner) to enter. It is operated and maintained by the US military. International grocery stores cater to the international community. Some (particularly those that sell alcohol) only allow individuals with non-Afghan passports to enter.
13. For example, Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief (ACBAR), publishes a ‘Code of Conduct’ for its membership (humanitarian, development and reconstruction). Membership is voluntary as is adherence to the code of conduct due to its inability to monitor the over 2,400 national and internationally registered NGOs operating throughout the country (ACBAR 2005; IRIN Citation2005).
14. This saying was commonly used by many respondents in reference to the popular saying ‘What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas’, in order to identify that an individual's behavior in Kabul does not follow him/her home or to his/her next job assignment.
15. Most international development and aid workers make salaries that are significantly higher than local Afghans. For example, in several cases internationals were paid between U$15,000 and U$30,000 per month for work, while a local Afghan worker in the same office was making between U$250–500 per month.
16. Female research participants who discussed their relationships with Afghan men identified these men (in all cases) as current or former employees.
17. Family protections over women through their exclusion from these practices does not mean that Afghan women are not subject to acts of prostitution (through either violent coercion or economic desperation).