Introduction
Women’s protests are the only social movement in Afghanistan under Taliban rule that still breathes despite widespread repression. This is heartening in a country where its social movements have had a short lifespan and have often been co-opted or suppressed by ruling elites or government crackdowns. The women’s movement is the only peaceful and civil movement in Afghanistan that has posed a significant challenge to the autocratic and misogynistic Taliban regime. One reason why no country has recognized the Kabul regime officially is its disregard for women’s rights. Women’s protest movements have shown the world that Afghan women are not willing to surrender their fundamental rights and comply with the oppressive dictates of the Taliban regime, despite severe suppression and widespread elimination.
In this article, an attempt is made to first delve into the characteristics of the women’s movement over the past two years, and then address the challenges it faces. Finally, the importance of the women’s movement and the necessity for its sustainability and continuity given the current conditions in the country will be emphasized.
Characteristics:
The women’s movement in Afghanistan possesses significant and noteworthy characteristics that, if strengthened, can have a lasting political presence in the Afghan political arena on one hand, and on the other hand, it can present a new and different model for social-political action, transforming the style of resistance and advocacy in the country. This in itself is a remarkable achievement that should not be underestimated. Below are some characteristics of Afghan women’s protests that will be discussed.
Semi-Anarchistic Approach:
Following suppression on the streets, protesting women have adopted a different approach, relying on social networks to circumvent organized repression, which the Taliban have employed since the inception of women’s protests. In this style of protest, women, in closed-door rooms, express their reactions to Taliban policies and actions with placards in hand, demanding their rights. These protests are launched in a scattered and decentralized manner across various provinces, and although the number of protesters is limited, their images and videos are widely circulated on social networks and media outlets. Despite the fear and terror that the Taliban have instilled in society, they have not yet succeeded in suppressing this form of women’s protest.
Women’s protests are organized in a way that vertical leadership elements are less apparent, and the position of representation is less prominent. In these protests, the names and symbols of political parties, thieving civil institutions, project-grabbing NGOs, medal-winning NGOists, left-wing demagogues, human rights merchants, and pseudo-republicans are less visible. Protesting women have at least reached the awareness that some individuals are once again using the guise of defending women’s rights to fill their pockets. They know that women representatives in the past 20 years, like other representatives, have engaged in profitable businesses under the guise of defending women’s rights, and now they are trying again to exploit the current situation for their gain. This distrust of representatives and celebrity defenders of women’s rights, along with decentralized and horizontally organized protest, is an intriguing aspect of Afghan women’s protests that I would like to call semi-anarchism. This tendency lies on the border between the radical and decisive political maturity of breaking away from official and hegemonic politics, and the unconventional apprenticeship of taking unconventional action to completely change the current state of affairs.
Semi-anarchism is essentially a dialectical process of transcending dominant reality and returning to it. While this tendency holds promise for the formation of a new style of resistance, it also inherently carries a type of fear; a fear that whispers to you, warning that revolutionary action may transform into its antithesis. The primary reason famous revolutions worldwide failed during their victories was their lack of sufficient radicalism, paving the way for resurgence and ultimately the return of reaction. In semi-anarchism, elements of unity politics, vertical management, and representation still exist, and actors have not completely parted ways with remnants of reactionary thinking; therefore, authentic politics of liberation has not fully emerged. In this trend, while reactionary politics is failing, it still poses a serious threat and should not be underestimated.
Now, looking at the issue with this theoretical premise, the women’s protests in Afghanistan have not completely broken away from vertical leadership and hierarchical structures. Due to the severe repression of protests by the Taliban, protesting women have been forced to act in a semi-rhizomatic manner and have not paid much attention to issuing calls for action. Afghan women are not well-versed in the high consciousness of anarchism, as they are still attached to heroism, leadership, and representation. Hence, the concern always remains that women’s protests may, instead of completely breaking away from the unsuccessful, but entrenched and hegemonic managerial tradition, dissolve into it and abandon the initial tendencies of anarchistic excess. The corruption within Afghan civil society and the lack of experience in horizontal movements in this country are two major factors that further exacerbate this concern. Only with the continuation and expansion of protests can it be determined which direction the women’s movement is heading, and whether it can find salvation from oppressive imperialism, corruption, and representation. However, up to this point, the women’s protests in Afghanistan have managed to initiate a new style of struggle, which, if not aborted prematurely, could establish one of the most brilliant methods of horizontal struggle in Afghan society.
Transethnic:
The demands put forth by the women’s movement are, unlike some recent social movements and political currents in the country, not ethnically driven. Women defend their fundamental rights, which are universal and dignified, not specific to any particular ethnic group or tribe. The Taliban, through their misogynistic policies, target all women, whether Pashtun, Hazara, Tajik, or Uzbek. The protesting women come from different ethnicities, and the demands they raise do not involve the observance of rights specific to any particular ethnic group. It is true that in the Afghan women’s movement, some ethnicities are more represented than others, which can be attributed to the deeply ethnicized politics that has always played a hegemonic role in this country, and no political tendency – even those that have tried to combat ethnicism – has been immune to its poisonous influence. This ethnonationalistic policy is patriarchal, and women merely have a symbolic presence within it, being used as tools. However, the women’s movement’s response to this patriarchal ethnonationalistic policy is transethnic.
You may argue that womanhood is not an ethnic concept and it seems natural for women to voice gender-related demands rather than ethnic ones. Yes, there is no doubt that womanhood is a gender concept rather than an ethnic one; however, what is clear is that in a society where ethnic politics has a stable and hegemonic presence, even gender concepts take on ethnic-classist hues: a Pashtun woman differs from a Tajik, Hazara, or Uzbek woman, and they cannot be lumped together. This type of ethnic policy, reminiscent of the Taliban, alerts us. Look at the recent arrests of women accused of not adhering to the Taliban’s prescribed dress code. This group was mostly detained in two areas: Kabul – largely inhabited by Hazaras, and Khair Khana – predominantly Tajik. Here you can see the ethnic politics that the Taliban, now its main executors, engage in. However, the overall approach of the Taliban towards women is more ideological than ethnic. This group views women as a religious issue, where gender plays a larger role than ethnicity. Of course, with this necessary reminder, the footprint of ethnic politics in dealing with women is sometimes observed quite explicitly.
However, the women’s movement in Afghanistan has a smart strategy in fighting the Taliban. When women protest, they target the entire political-ideological apparatus of this group, which includes ethnic politics. This means that the advantage of women’s protests is that they target both ethnic politics – of the Taliban variety – and the entire political-ideological apparatus of the Taliban, which extends beyond ethnic politics and also victimizes Pashtun women. This characteristic is another striking point in the history of Afghan people’s struggles, especially in the past 20 years. In a country where ethnonationalism, ethnicism, parochialism, and party politics have poisoned its existence and essentially shaped its entire history, relying on transethnic, non-party slogans against a monoethnic regime that prioritizes the interests of a closed group over the interests of the entire population is hopeful and commendable.
Civil and Peaceful:
Women protesters advocate for their lost rights in a very civil and peaceful manner, using literature that is soft and conciliatory. They neither resort to cursing and swearing nor do they engage in violent actions. Women raise the slogan of “bread, work, and freedom” in a very civil and peaceful manner, protesting against the assassinations, arrests, and violence perpetrated against women activists. This approach might be considered humiliating by many Afghan men who perceive engagement in heated conflict and violent actions as a demonstration of honor and masculinity, boasting about it. However, this very approach can be the strength and perhaps the most radical approach against a harsh, quasi-military, masculine force that is only familiar with the language of guns and pays no heed to civil protest. This unfamiliarity can disorient the enemy with its bewildering power, thereby diverting its focus from the war.
If you were to go to war with the Taliban with a gun in hand, you wouldn’t present much of a new and terrifying challenge. Suppressing unarmed protesters makes the Taliban’s job easier and more convenient on the one hand, and on the other hand, due to your tendency towards violence, you won’t gain much acceptance domestically or internationally. However, if you protest in a completely civil and non-violent manner, you deprive the Taliban of part of their military capability and power.
One of the reasons why civil movements pose a challenge to totalitarian and undemocratic regimes is that they create decision-making deadlocks. What justification can there be for suppressing entirely nonviolent protesters? If you suppress the protesters, you face greater anger from the people and the world, and if you merely monitor them, the protesters may take the initiative. It is true that most authoritarian regimes do not attach much importance to this issue and immediately resort to suppressing the protesters. However, suppressing civil movements is more difficult than suppressing military rebellions because the cost of suppressing civil rebellions is higher. Moreover, the protesting women use a method that minimizes human casualties and reduces the likelihood of tracking and arresting protesters. Even the smallest protest by women is covered in social networks and media, leaving its mark. If this approach continues, it will ultimately force the Taliban to retreat, especially considering that one of the main conditions set by the world for legitimizing the Taliban is the protection of women’s rights.
Challenges:
It is undeniable that under Taliban control, men in Afghanistan also suffer greatly and are subjected to increasing pressures, but they have a better situation compared to women and still enjoy minimal rights and privileges. This is thanks to the male-dominated society prevailing in Afghanistan. Even in the most democratic and developed countries, politics is people-centric; however, this situation is worse in an underdeveloped country like Afghanistan, where women are more vulnerable than anywhere else. They are deprived of even basic rights such as education, work, sports, and recreation, let alone the right to protest against the political system and challenge the religious barbarism prevailing in the country. In this regard, it is assumed that female resistance may have more resilience and endurance compared to armed male resistance and should not simply succumb to the overwhelming violence and suppression by the Taliban. However, current female resistance in Afghanistan faces serious challenges, which are outlined below:
Religious Zealotry and Male Domination:
Women in a society plagued by religious zealotry and male domination have taken a stand, even though most of its citizens, due to their indoctrination with religious zealotry and male dominance, view women’s protests with disdain: women should stay at home and raise their children, not take to the streets to protest. Women are expected to accept what men say. This includes everyone, from fathers, husbands, brothers, and sons to clerics and the rulers of the country. In such a society, women can ultimately only study, go to the market, and work. However, they cannot question the authority of male domination or challenge the political system autonomously.
When women challenge religious zealotry and male domination, there is no distinction between clerics and “enlightened thinkers.” They all stand united to ensure that women return to their previous subjugated position, preventing society from becoming “corrupt.” Resistance to female resistance manifests in two forms: active and visible, and passive and invisible. The former is currently being carried out by the Taliban and their supporters, while the latter is by men, and even women, who are religious and traditional. In Afghanistan, most men have an internal Taliban that sometimes becomes apparent and sometimes remains hidden.
Until now, women’s protests have been unable to garner widespread support from other societal forces, as most Afghan men look at these protests with disdain: what can a woman do, and what is she protesting about? They lack the courage to resist the rapidly spreading wave of Islamic extremism and also lack the courage to accept that women have shown more pride than themselves and have challenged the Taliban regime to the best of their ability.
With this description, movements that fail to attract the support of other societal forces ultimately shrink because the anger and rebellion of the protesters gradually give way to despair and inaction. However, the suppression of protests does not mean the defeat and end of female resistance in Afghanistan. Protests may resurface and even intensify given the current situation. Women’s protests, like a thorn in the eyes of the Taliban, will occasionally remind them that the anger of women does not abate against them.
Corruption in Political Parties and Women’s Rights Advocacy Organizations:
Following the events of September 11th and the Western intervention in Afghanistan, the market for political parties suddenly heated up. Over a hundred parties with seemingly populist slogans entered the political arena. Most of these parties, emerging from the remnants of jihadist organizations, the fragmentation of the People’s Democratic Party, and taking inspiration from Maoist organizations, registered with the Ministry of Justice of the previous government, either by bribing or buying people’s identity cards. These parties, which were supposed to be funded from somewhere and had entered the arena with this indication, not only did nothing for the people but also became involved in the prevalent corruption in the Western-backed government. As a result, they became entangled in the webs of corruption to fill their own pockets.
Parties and groups affiliated with Western countries in this feeding frenzy were able to become breadwinners, go to the stock exchange, and receive medals. But the rest, who had less affiliation or did not know the “art” of project management, remained at the level of obtaining a license for their activities, and no one went after them. The parties that became breadwinners and whose projects for NGO-ization and money laundering flourished, their most significant activities were launching several demonstrations with rented individuals, mostly aimed at attracting the attention of Western embassies (the donors), rather than the people. These parties did not undertake any fundamental and sustainable work to help institutionalize women’s rights and fight against the religious extremism and male dominance prevailing in Afghan society. On the contrary, they indirectly perpetuated misogyny and trivialized the role of women in society by using women as tools and launching ridiculous and deceptive programs.
Thus, the first experience of party formation after the Western presence in Afghanistan led to a noteworthy failure. If political parties had gained significant influence among the people and could exert pressure on the Taliban regime, today, women would not have taken the responsibility of resistance against the Taliban’s misogynistic restrictions alone, and this group would not have been able to ruthlessly suppress female protesters without fear.
Alongside political parties, numerous women’s rights advocacy organizations not only failed to do fundamental and sustainable work for Afghan women but also, with a similar approach to political parties, became one of the factors contributing to the current disastrous situation of women. Officials of these organizations, who had launched a lucrative business under the guise of defending women’s rights in Afghanistan and now enjoy comfortable lives in Western countries, have not yet withdrawn from the “business of defending women’s rights” and are trying to represent the protesting girls in Afghanistan under the Taliban’s rule in international forums, which has provoked the reaction of the protesting women. The only thing that these celebrity “women’s rights defenders” sometimes want to do in the West is to send greetings to the courage and pride of the protesting girls, and that’s it. But if another opportunity arises for project management and continuing the “business of defending women’s rights,” I am sure these greedy and hypocritical merchants will return to line their pockets with more money.
Political Activism and Celebrity Culture:
As mentioned, over the past twenty years of Western presence in Afghanistan, politics, like any other field, has become heavily influenced by activism and celebrity culture. With the resurgence of the Taliban, not only has there been no halt in this trend, but this type of politics has gained even more prominence over time, affecting all social and political actors in some way. It is not surprising, therefore, if the women’s movement also falls victim to this deadly epidemic. Therefore, celebrity culture, activism, individualism, and project-making are serious threats that can lead any resistance action, including the protests of Afghan women, astray. The pseudo-anarchist approach can also easily discourage us because, while it has the potential to become a glorious platform for all freedom fighters, it also has the potential to become its antagonist to the same extent.
Conclusion:
In a situation where the Taliban are unwilling to change themselves and tighten the shackles on women with each passing day, women have no choice but to continue their resistance against the most misogynistic regime in the world. The Taliban, more than any other force, motivate women with their actions in this battle and give them a longer lifespan for resistance. Until the Taliban refrains from their restrictive actions against women and restores their stolen rights, the struggle of the most deprived stratum of society against the Taliban’s autocratic regime, whether intense or mild, will continue. This conflict ends when one of the two sides of the dialectical game no longer exists. Either woman must accept their defeat and leave the battlefield, in which case they have no choice but to accept the confinement of their homes, or they must continue to fight against the current misogynistic regime, in which case, despite the countless threats they will face, a better future awaits them. So far, women have chosen the second option and in doing so, they have bravely faced any danger.
There is no doubt that severe repression has led to a decrease in women’s protests. But what matters is the continuation of this resistance against one of the most terrifying and dreadful religious regimes in the region; a regime that does not tolerate even the smallest protest against its inhumane actions and wants people to become obedient subjects. Women, however, have stood bravely and persistently against the Taliban’s rule-making policies more than any other force, demonstrating to the best of their abilities that they do not want to accept the miserable existence the group has planned for them. Even if women’s resistance diminishes further, its importance is not diminished. The existence of this resistance in the crucible called Afghanistan is heartening and hopeful; a country where the sorrow of its men has created the full-bodied tyranny of the Taliban, and the only thing they do not think about is resistance to the religious dictatorship that is gradually taking over all aspects of Afghan citizens’ lives.
If other Afghan citizens also join in protesting against the increasing Taliban occupation, the life span of this anti-people regime will be shorter than imagined. Indeed, no power can extinguish the simmering anger of the people solely through the use of force and military might. The use of violence against peaceful protests only increases people’s hatred and disgust for authoritarian regimes; a hatred and disgust that, if transformed from silent resistance to active resistance, will soon bring about the end of the gender apartheid regime.
