Beyond kinship and tribe: New forms of solidarity and interest representation in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan

Abstract

In this paper, I show that the establishment of unauthorized settlements on government land in the newly urbanizing peripheries of Jalalabad – the second-fastest growing city of Afghanistan – corresponded with the emergence of a new type of interest representation manifest in locally established inclusive interest representation bodies (shura). Taking the example of two evolving settlements, I aim to illustrate how two newly established shuras, based on inclusive social – albeit not tribal or kinship-based – representation of all resident households, present a new mode of solidarity mechanism in urbanizing Pashtun society.