Publication

The paper argues that the fundamental characteristics of Afghanistan’s rural society – the centrality of social relationships and their variability by village – are not being captured in policy and programming responses. It suggests two major reasons why this might be so. First, policy and programming in Afghanistan have specifically sought to displace existing village customary structures, and therefore have little interest in understanding and responding to variability in village contexts. Second, there is an inherent bias in policy towards individuals’ own capacities, to the neglect of the structures of inequality that make and keep people poor.