Framing Strategies in Pakhtunistan: Exploring the Role of Pakhtunwali in Defining Ideological, Social and Political Interactions.
Author
Smolucha, Nathan L
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Smolucha, Nathan L. 2024. Framing Strategies in Pakhtunistan: Exploring the Role of Pakhtunwali in Defining Ideological, Social and Political Interactions.. Master's thesis, Harvard University Division of Continuing Education.Abstract
The Pakhtuns are a large tribal community whose territory overlaps the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Both states have attempted to politicize the Pakhtun community through framing their national identity with ethno-national and pan-Islamic narratives. A key feature of these narrative strategies is their attempted alignment with a Pakhtun ideology called the Pakhtunwali. This thesis explores what social effect such narratives have had on Pakhtunwali and related Pakhtun tribal institutions as a result. Implications for regime stability in Afghanistan are assessed using visual models that identify points of congruence between social narratives and their Pakhtun audience. The theoretical foundations established by “framing” in social movement theory literature is relied upon for this study of strategic narratives. These narrative-based framing interactions are considered in the larger context of English School theory’s international and regional “world” societies. Both primary and secondary academic sources were consulted for the case study in the absence of field research. This thesis contributes to the academic field by suggesting potential methods of visualizing ideological competition, as well as encouraging deeper consideration of how common perception of the Pakhtuns have changed as a result.Terms of Use
This article is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of-use#LAACitable link to this page
https://nrs.harvard.edu/URN-3:HUL.INSTREPOS:37378555
Collections
- DCE Theses and Dissertations [1331]
Contact administrator regarding this item (to report mistakes or request changes)