The readings are available as follows.
1. Culture and Social Foundations
Basic conceptual grounding in culture, social construction, and identity.
What is Culture — Henslin
Problematising Culture — Chaney
Ethnic Group and the State — Paul Brass
2. Ethnicity and National Identity
How groups define themselves and how nations emerge from symbolic and social processes.
What is Ethnicity — Eriksen
Ethnic & National Identity — Milasevic
Ethno-symbolism (Ch. 8) — Anthony D. Smith
3. Historical Foundations of Afghanistan
Civilizational and historical evolution of the region.
Introduction to Afghanistan — Adamec
Civilizations of Central Asia (Vol. 2, Ch. 7) — UNESCO
Civilizations of Central Asia (Vol. 3, Ch. 7) — UNESCO
4. Ethno-Geopolitics of Afghanistan
How ethnic groups, power, and geography interact.
Ethnic, Regional, Sectarian Alignments — Canfield
Afghanistan’s Ethnic Divides — Siddique
Ethnicising Afghanistan? — Simonsen
5. Spatial Identities and Nomadic Worlds
How space, mobility, and nomadism shape political identity.
Nomad Self-Identities — Richard Tapper
Ethnoscape & Space of Conflict — Conrad Schetter
Ethno-Federalism & Ethno-Geopolitics — Article
6. Islam, State, and Political Identity
Islam as a political force and ideological anchor of the Afghan state.
Islam and Resistance (Ch. 1–2) — Oliver Roy
Islam and Politics (Ch. 1) — Asta Olesen
Sociogenesis of the Afghan State — Dorronsorro
7. Islamic Thought and National Imagination
Doctrinal variation and national narratives.
Salafism–Wahabism–Sufism — Seminar Notes
Kunzru Memorial Lecture — Afghanistan Since WWI
JNU-HRDC Lecture — Global Perspective PPT
8. Conflict, Militias, and Post-1979 Fragmentation
Jihad, civil war, commanders, and ethnic mobilisation.
Commanders & Jihadi Parties (Ch. 3–4) — Dorronsorro
Ethnicisation of Conflict (Ch. 8–9) — Dorronsorro
Development of Islamic Texts (Hadiths) — Source Texts
9. Methods and Theory (Optional)
Additional theoretical and methodological tools.
Principles of Macrosociology — Elwell
Ethnographic Method — Excerpt 1, Excerpt 2
Failure of Political Islam (Introduction) — Oliver Roy
Towards a General Theory — Moynihan
Nations and Nationalism (Ch. 1) — Ernest Gellner
Ethnicity and Nation: Gellner, Smith & Barth — Kuang Hu
The Ghaznavids (Ch. 5) — UNESCO Series