Waiting for Dignity: Legitimacy and Authority in Afghanistan

by Florian Weigand

Overview

In August 2021, Taliban fighters entered the presidential palace in Kabul, ending twenty years of international efforts to build a democratic state in Afghanistan. Did the Taliban’s success rest on coercion and violence alone, or did they win the battle for public support through ideology and better services? Or did most people in the country not believe in the idea of the state at all, trusting only local elders and traditional councils? What is the source of legitimacy during armed conflict?

In Waiting for Dignity, Florian Weigand investigates legitimacy and its absence in Afghanistan. Drawing on hundreds of interviews, he examines the perspectives of ordinary people in Afghanistan as well as those of rival claimants to authority: insurgents, warlords, members of parliament, security forces, and community leaders. By exploring how different types of authority attempted to legitimize their rule, Waiting for Dignity challenges common assumptions about how to build legitimacy, such as by delivering services, holding elections, or adopting traditional institutions. Weigand shows that what matters in conflict zones is what he terms interactive dignity: Citizens judge authorities on the basis of their day-to-day experiences with them. People want to be treated with dignity. The extent to which people perceive interactions to be fair, inclusive, and respectful is vital to the construction of lasting order. Combining theoretical originality with in-depth and compelling empirical detail, this book offers timely new insights into recent developments in Afghanistan and the challenges facing conflict-torn areas more widely.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780231553643
Publisher:	Columbia University Press
Publication date:	09/20/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	384
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Florian Weigand is the codirector of the Centre on Armed Groups and a research associate at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He is the author of Conflict and Transnational Crime: Borders, Bullets, and Business in Southeast Asia (2020) and coeditor of the Routledge Handbook of Smuggling (2021).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Conflict-Torn Spaces and Legitimacy
2. The State
3. Strongmen and Warlords
4. The Taliban
5. Community Authorities
6. Waiting for Dignity
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

A perceptive and stimulating analysis that illuminates the mechanisms of control and authority within a society plagued by ongoing political turmoil and conflict.

E-IR

A book of high scientific and policy relevance that is sophisticated, empirically and conceptually groundbreaking, and yet accessible to a broad audience.

Eurasian Geography and Economics

I would recommend Waiting for Dignity to anyone interested in questions of state-building, political violence, or social order. It holds special value for those seeking to amplify local voices; it also encourages scholars to consider the enduring allure of the state. The book demonstrates the value of studying political meaning through a grounded approach, while simultaneously expanding on an important scholarly tradition that seeks to understand the formation and transformation of political authority.

Contemporary Sociology

Weigand joins a new generation of scholars who are rethinking the Weberian foundations of the modern state. Based on extensive fieldwork, this pathbreaking book looks at Afghanistan from the bottom up. By doing so, the book introduces us to a panoply of organizations and actors that shape legitimate governance in Afghanistan.

Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili

Numberless personal stories from countries under foreign occupation or despotic rule recount how an incident of personal humiliation triggers an individual’s decision to defy authority. In Waiting for Dignity, Florian Weigand validates this insight with the best kind of social science, giving a voice to Afghans and interpreting what they have to say. Rather than testing a received hypothesis he has generated a fresh new understanding of the fundamental but elusive concept of political legitimacy.

Alex de Waal

Weigand’s terrific book on how authority has been built and lost in Afghanistan is also an invitation to return to deeper levels of analysis. It runs from rethinking what legitimacy means in today’s world to what we have lost in the last twenty or more years. His conclusions have wide relevance beyond Afghanistan, shedding light on conditions that affect both the powerful and the poor and often forgotten.

Saskia Sassen

An impressive and deeply interesting book.

Perspectives on Politics

Waiting for Dignity is well written and argued, reflecting people’s diverse perceptions of what constituted sources of authority and legitimacy. It is conceptually and empirically enriching.

Pacific Affairs

Written in accessible language, the book presents a theoretically sophisticated argument that invites readers to rethink the foundations of the modern state.

Choice

This book is a rich and layered examination of what a legitimate authority might mean to the people of Afghanistan.

South Asia

Weigand’s book is a thought-provoking read for academics and policymakers alike. It paints a vivid picture of the contemporary socio-political dynamics of Afghanistan. Most importantly, it does this by giving voice to the Afghan people. Moreover, the book proposes a new way of thinking about political legitimacy in Afghanistan and similar conflict zones.

Democratization

A wonderful and entertaining read, which offers important insights into the nature of authority and legitimacy in (post-) conflict states.

International Affairs

This book is an important read about the failure of building a legitimate state after the 2001 military intervention in Afghanistan and why the Afghan Republic and its allies lost the battle for public support. Weigand’s key argument around perception of legitimacy for various stakeholders in different communities is informative and valuable to understand governance and violence in Afghanistan.

Timor Sharan

A pleasurable read with lively and insightful anecdotes that are accessible to readers without a background in Afghanistan, while providing plenty of fresh insights that will captivate long-time observers of the country.

International Peacekeeping

A well-argued and compellingly evidenced account of how legitimacy works in Afghanistan, this book challenges the rational legal perspectives that dominate policy and theory on this issue. Written in a fluid style, Waiting for Dignity is rich in empirical material and offers a useful comparative perspective that will appeal to policymakers as well as the academic public.

Ashley Jackson

Essential reading for researchers and policymakers seeking to understand the current dynamics in Afghanistan and to gain insights into the potential future outlook.

LSE Review of Books

This is a highly valuable contribution, whether your main interest is in legitimacy in contexts of conflict generally, or in legitimacy and authority in Afghanistan specifically.

Journal of Peace Research