Negotiating Survival: Civilian-Insurgent Relations in Afghanistan
Author: Ashley Jackson
Publisher: Hurst Publishers
Print Length: 328 pages
Genre: Non-Fiction / Political Science
Area: Afghanistan
People: Afghan
Topic: Civil Participation, Insurgency, Resistance; Self-Determination, Autonomy, Agency; Taliban, Testimonies, Politics & Power, Civil War, Conflict, Rebellion, Repression, Dialogue
A novel examination of civilian agency and bargaining power, revealing how those living under the Taliban have shaped the course of the insurgency.
Two decades on from 9/11, the Taliban now control more than half of Afghanistan. Few would have foreseen such an outcome, and there is little understanding of how Afghans living in Taliban territory have navigated life under insurgent rule.
Based on over 400 interviews with Taliban and civilians, this book tells the story of how civilians have not only bargained with the Taliban for their survival, but also ultimately influenced the course of the war in Afghanistan. While the Taliban have the power of violence on their side, they nonetheless need civilians to comply with their authority. Both strategically and by necessity, civilians have leveraged this reliance on their obedience in order to influence Taliban behaviour.
Challenging prevailing beliefs about civilians in wartime, Negotiating Survival presents a new model for understanding how civilian agency can shape the conduct of insurgencies. It also provides timely insights into Taliban strategy and objectives, explaining how the organisation has so nearly triumphed on the battlefield and in peace talks. While Afghanistan’s future is deeply unpredictable, there is one certainty: it is as critical as ever to understand the Taliban—and how civilians survive their rule.
‘Negotiating Survival is the first text to cover the topic of how civilians have been bargaining with insurgents in Afghanistan. Rich in empirical material and comprehensively sourced, it is original, ambitious, and convincing.’ — Antonio Giustozzi, Visiting Professor, King’s College London, and author of The Taliban at War: 2001–2018
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Abbreviation and Acronyms
Glossary
Introduction
1. Negotiated Rebellion: A Theory of Civilian—Insurgent Bargaining
2. Dancing with Whoever Is There: Surviving the Afghanistan Wars
3. Coercion, Co-option, and Co-operation: Taliban Tactics and Strategy
4. Navigating Forever War: Civilian Bargaining Strategies
5. The Art of Deal: Evolution, Variation, Enabling Factors, and Constraints
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Ashley Jackson is the co-founder and co-director of the Centre for the Study of Armed Groups at the Overseas Development Institute, an organization that supports research on and engagement with armed groups. Ashley’s current work broadly focuses on negotiating with armed groups, and she has advised various UN agencies, NGOs and governments on humanitarian access and conflict mediation. She has a special interest in Afghanistan, and has written extensively on the conflict in Afghanistan and the Taliban. Alongside this, she has advised the UK Parliament, the US State Department, and others on Afghanistan policy. She has also researched, written, and advised on engagement in Somalia, Syria, the Central Africa Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Iraq, and elsewhere, and is a research associate with both ODI and the King’s College London Conflict, Security and Development Research Group.
Source: https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/negotiating-survival/ & https://www.ashleyajackson.com/aboutashley
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