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This report examines how long-term socioeconomic and environmental changes have shaped the context for poverty and food insecurity in Afghanistan. An estimated 97% of the population is currently under the poverty line and over half the population of 36 million people need immediate humanitarian support. , Following the Taliban takeover of the country in August 2021, Afghanistan has faced an international freeze on development and governance assistance, a freezing of the Afghan State Bank’s assets in the United States and Europe, a severe weakening of both private and public sector and a mass-scale unemployment. This, coupled with the rise in commodity prices has increased poverty and hunger prevalence to emergency levels. Moreover, new regulations imposed by the Taliban leadership on female education, employment and mobility has increased challenges for women to accessing jobs in both private and public sector. The situation looks likely to worsen in both the short and longer terms.

This NCHS paper examines the use of the term legal pluralism in Afghanistan and argues that where access to justice is particularly difficult or neglected, social actors face an absence rather than a plurality of legal orders. The paper was originally developed as a contribution to the report Afghanistan and the Rule of Law after 2021: Legal and Social Developments by the Max Planck Foundation for International Peace and the Rule of Law .

The public anthropologist grapples with not one but many overlapping digital transformations, which influence how anthropologists access, produce, and disseminate knowledge. The digital turn reshapes the social fields with which the anthropologist engages; the political opportunities and risks arising from the engagement of the public anthropologist; and the methodological approach of the public anthropologist as they access, produce, and disseminate knowledge. This entry examines how digital transformations—as processes of social change—bring new possibilities and challenges for public anthropology.

Comments on “Bronislaw Malinowski, l’antropologia pratica, la politica e il colonialismo” by Antonino Colajanni,with contributions by Marco Bassi, Valeria Ribeiro Corossacz, Antonio De Lauri, Frederico Delgado Rosa, Andrea E. Pia, Leonardo Piasere, Daniela Salvucci, Ivan Severi, Barbara Sorgoni, Jaro Stacul, Giuseppe Tateo, Elisabeth Tauber, Dorothy L. Zinn, Pier Paolo Viazzo, with a response from the author., Commenti a “Bronislaw Malinowski, l’antropologia pratica, la politica e il colonialismo” di Antonino Colajanni, con contributi di Marco Bassi, Valeria Ribeiro Corossacz, Antonio De Lauri, Frederico Delgado Rosa, Andrea E. Pia, Leonardo Piasere, Daniela Salvucci, Ivan Severi, Barbara Sorgoni, Jaro Stacul, Giuseppe Tateo, Elisabeth Tauber, Dorothy L. Zinn, Pier Paolo Viazzo e una risposta dell’autore.

Humanitarian wars are a primary means of globally affirming a specific model of humanity, built according to the cultural, moral, and economic standards of Western democracies. How are forms of humanity produced in the context of humanitarian war in Afghanistan? How are notions of freedom mobilized? How does the idea of a prospective humanity relate to the use of military force? In an attempt to reflect on the different configurations of freedom and humanity that emerged in the context of recent Afghanistan conflicts and international interventions, this article addresses the perspective of two key figures: the Taliban and the humanitarian soldier. Building on narratives such as poetry, interviews, and conversations conducted during fieldwork, this angle allows us to observe the complexity of the Afghan humanitarian theatre in a way that goes beyond mere assessments of political and economic interests, revealing a fragment of global contemporaneity that is crucial for understanding how processes of producing humanity combine with war and humanitarian efforts., Anuac, Vol 8, No 1 (2019)

Este resumen analiza brevemente cuatro ámbitos cruciales del humanitarismo contemporáneo: la diplomacia humanitaria, la educación en situaciones de emergencia, el concepto de sociedad civil en el humanitarismo y las fronteras humanitarias.

This overview briefly discusses four crucial domains of contemporary humanitarianism, namely humanitarian diplomacy, education in emergencies, the concept of civil society in humanitarianism, and humanitarian borders.

Migliorare l’accesso all’aiuto umanitario in situazioni di conflitto e di emergenza è sempre stata una delle principali preoccupazioni per gli operatori umanitari. Per garantire l’accesso, l’assistenza e la protezione dei civili, l’azione umanitaria è stata storicamente portata avanti in situazioni di estrema insicurezza e in condizioni politiche instabili. Il concetto di diplomazia umanitaria ha cominciato a farsi strada agli inizi degli anni 2000 per descrivere i tentativi e le strategie di persuasione che gli attori umanitari compiono nei confronti delle forze politiche locali e nazionali affinché agiscano, in ogni momento e in ogni circostanza, nell’interesse delle persone più vulnerabili e nel pieno rispetto dei principi umanitari fondamentali quali neutralità, indipendenza, umanità e imparzialità.

رئیس محکمه استیناف مبارزه با جرایم سنگین فساد اداری و شخصیت برجسته قضای کنونی افغانستان می گوید : " من معتقدم که سیستم قضایی افغانستان جایگاه حقیقی خود را باز می یابد. هنوز مشکلات وجود دارد ، اما پیشرفت قابل توجهی در حال انجام است . اگر وضعیت کنونی ادامه یابد ، من به آینده قوه قضائیه در افغانستان خوشبین هستم . با این حال ، اگر این روند به دلیل درگیری یا ناآرامی های سیاسی و اجتماعی قطع شود ، هیچ کس نمی داند که آینده سیستم قضایی چگونه خواهد بود . " ما در 11 ژوئن 2020 با او مصاحبه کردیم .

تُناقش هذه النظرة العامة بإيجاز أربع مجالات ذات دور حاسم للإنسانية المُعاصرة، وهي الدبلوماسية الإنسانية والتعليم في حالات الطوارئ ومفهوم المجتمع المدني في العمل الإنساني والحدود الإنسانية.

Expert witness for the inquiry on the United Kingdom and Afghanistan, Committee on International Relations and Defence, House of Lords.

Améliorer l’accès à l’aide humanitaire dans les conflits et dans les situations d’urgence complexes a toujours été la plus grande préoccupation pour les acteurs humanitaires. Historiquement l’humanitarisme a été conduit dans des situations d’extrême insécurité et dans des conditions politiques instables pour garantir l’accès, l’assistance et la protection des civils. La diplomatie humanitaire est apparue comme concept au début des années 2000. On peut définir ce concept comme la tentative de persuader les décideurs politiques à agir, à tout moment et en toutes circonstances, dans l’intérêt des personnes vulnérables et dans le plein respect des principes humanitaires fondamentaux. Traditionnellement, l’action de la diplomatie humani- taire va de la négociation de la présence d’organisations humanitaires à la négociation de l’accès aux populations civiles qui ont besoin de protection. Cela comporte le suivi des programmes d’assistance, la promotion du respect du droit international et l’exercice des activités de défense en faveur d’objectifs humanitaires plus larges (Minear et Smith 2007). La diplomatie humanitaire est considérée comme un instrument qui permet d’atteindre les personnes les plus vulnérables, un objectif qui s’inscrit dans le programme et l’engagement politique de «ne laisser personne de côté». Cette note examine comment le concept de la diplomatie humanitaire est la clé pour comprendre les changements critiques dans le domaine humanitaire; il examine ainsi comment les efforts humanitaires, la politique étrangère et les intérêts stratégiques se chevauchent de plus en plus d

The reification of humanitarian borders generates a politics of crisis that weakens the capacity to produce structural political changes and legitimizes exceptionalism and the reproduction of hierarchized borders. In this article, I argue that a critique of crisis implies the possibility of thinking about migration beyond the limits of humanitarian borders, therefore locating debates about political action and change within the realm of ordinary politics rather than that of emergency and exceptionalism. In contemporary Europe, a critique of crisis is a critique of power. It is thus a way to develop a political vision of borders and mobility beyond the humanitarian order of things.

Afghan paramilitary forces working with the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) have long been a staple in the US war on terrorism in Afghanistan and the border region with Pakistan. The problems associated with these militias take on new significance given the recent momentum in talks between the US government and the Taliban about the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan. Whose interests do the militias represent? How can they be integrated into a peace agreement – if at all? Will their use value for the US in future counterterrorist operations outweigh the case for closing them down in the service of human rights and a sustainable peace? The militias are at least nominally controlled by their CIA paymaster, but to what extent will the operations of the CIA be monitored and streamlined with overall US policy towards Afghanistan? The CIA-supported militias are a particularly troublesome version of the regionally based militias in Afghanistan that have developed over the years around local strongmen with external support. The present units originate in the 2001 invasion, when US military forces and the CIA organized Afghan militias to fight Islamist militants. Almost two decades later, the CIA is still running local militias in operations against the Taliban and other Islamist militants. Throughout, the militias reportedly have committed serious human rights abuses, including numerous extrajudicial killings of civilians. CIA sponsorship ensures that their operations are clouded in secrecy. There is virtually no public oversight of their activities or accountability for grave human rights abuses. This paper pulls together publicly available information about the “CIA’s Afghan Army,” charts the problems it represents for creating a sustainable peace settlement in Afghanistan, and examines possible measures for addressing these problems.

Public anthropology is a collective aspiration shaped by generally shared values and intentions within significant sections of social and cultural anthropology. The impetus behind the creation of the journal Public Anthropologist originates in this realm of ongoing discussions and actions inspired by the idea of pushing engagement and participation beyond academic borders. Given that the traditional triadic structure's assessment standards and their financial and political backers are being reshaped by broader social forces beyond the academy and that the audit culture of accountability, that is replacing earlier standards, has significant problems, we need ask: Where do we go from here? In these changing times, how can anthropologists be more relevant to the broader society in the hope of escaping the worse aspects of the audit culture? We need raise our public profile, we need make clear to the larger society anthropology's value in addressing the problems that concern them.

Improving access to humanitarian aid in conflict and complex emergencies has always been a major concern for policy makers and humanitarian actors. Historically, humanitarianism has been conducted in situations of extreme insecurity and unstable political conditions to secure access, assistance and protection for civilians. Humanitarian diplomacy (HD) emerged as a concept in the early 2000s. It can be defined as persuading decision makers and leaders to act, at all times and in all circumstances, in the interest of vulnerable people and with full respect for fundamental humanitarian principles. Traditionally, HD ranges from negotiating the presence of humanitarian organizations to negotiating access to civilian populations in need of protection. It involves monitoring assistance programs, promoting respect for international law, and engaging in advocacy in support of broader humanitarian goals (Minear and Smith 2007). There is a growing political consensus and commitment to “leave no one behind” in the 2030 Agenda and HD is seen as an instrument through which to reach the most vulnerable people. This brief discusses how the concept of HD is key to understanding critical changes in the humanitarian field and how humanitarian efforts, foreign policy and strategic interests increasingly overlap in the contemporary scenario.