B<scp>ringing</scp> M<scp>ore</scp> E<scp>ffective</scp> G<scp>overnance to</scp> A<scp>fghanistan</scp>: 10 P<scp>athways to</scp> S<scp>tability</scp>

Barfield, Thomas; Nojumi, Neamatollah

doi:10.1111/j.1475-4967.2010.00461.x

Cited by 13 publications

(11 citation statements)

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“… 38–41 However, participants contested MOH prominence in HSS, noting the importance of international agencies since conflict resumed in 2013, and focused on MOH's external accountability (eg, to international partners) with little discussion of its accountability and legitimacy role to citizens and communities. 42 43 Trust was reported to have broken down between the government and international community as a result of political and ethnic tensions and open discrimination was described in the health sector.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feasibility of health systems strengthening in South Sudan: a qualitative study of international practitioner perspectives

2015

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ObjectiveTo explore the feasibility of health systems strengthening from the perspective of international healthcare implementers and donors in South Sudan.DesignA qualitative interview study, with thematic analysis using the WHO health system building blocks framework.SettingSouth Sudan.Participants17 health system practitioners, working for international agencies in South Sudan, were purposively sampled for their knowledge and experiences of health systems strengthening, services delivery, health policy and politics in South Sudan.ResultsParticipants universally reported the health workforce as insufficient and of low capacity and service delivery as poor, while access to medicines was restricted by governmental lack of commitment in undertaking procurement and supply. However, progress was clear in improved county health department governance, health management information system functionality, increased health worker salary harmonisation and strengthened financial management.ConclusionsResurgent conflict and political tensions have negatively impacted all health system components and maintaining or continuing health system strengthening has become extremely challenging. A coordinated approach to balancing humanitarian need particularly in conflict-affected areas, with longer term development is required so as not to lose improvements gained.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feasibility of health systems strengthening in South Sudan: a qualitative study of international practitioner perspectives

2015

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“…The repeated description of the Taliban as not being corrupt, or at least being less corrupt than the state, indicates that people do not only choose the Taliban for conflict resolution because they assume that they will have the best chances of winning their case or securing the best outcome, but also because the procedures correspond with a shared belief of what is right. This shows that the perceived fairness of procedures -a source of legitimacy emphasized by scholars like Tyler (2004Tyler ( , 2006 in the context of political orders with a high degree of monopolization of force, as well as by Barfield and Nojumi (2010) in the context of Afghanistan's history -can play a central role in the construction of legitimacy in conflict-torn spaces today. More ethnographic research is necessary to explore the values that underpin the notions of 'corruption' and 'fairness' in Afghanistan -but the present research indicates that these values, most notably equality, are very general ones that are not necessarily linked to Islam, to the Pashtunwali or to other culturally-specific ideals.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Afghanistan’s Taliban – Legitimate Jihadists or Coercive Extremists?

Weigand

2017

Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding

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The military intervention in Afghanistan in 2001 was portrayed as a fight to oust the extremist Taliban. But the Taliban have long been regaining influence, with the military victory of the Afghan government and its foreign allies now seeming less likely than ever. In light of these developments, this article investigates what the affected people -rather than the foreign interveners -think about the Taliban, and whether they perceive them as coercive or legitimate. Building on a conceptual understanding of legitimacy that has been adjusted to the dynamics of conflict-torn spaces, the article suggests that people judge the Taliban on the basis of how their day-to-day behaviour is perceived. While the Taliban are a coercive threat in urban centres and other areas where they launch attacks, they nonetheless manage to construct legitimacy in some of the places which they control or can access easily. A major source of their legitimacy in these areas is the way in which they provide services -such as conflict resolution -which some people consider to be faster and fairer than the state's practices.

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“…10 Frequently invoked as an argument for the recognition of or support for informal justice mechanisms, it became part of a broader body of academic and 'grey' literature asserting that the formal justice system was not just ineffective in most of the country, it was alien to Afghan culture. Most Afghans, it was argued, preferred the restorative justice of their customary ways, and often resented the retributive justice practised by the formal courts (Barfield and Nojumi 2010;Ledwidge 2009;Smith and Lamey 2009;Wardak 2004).…”

Section: Contesting Expertsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Nexuses of knowledge and power in Afghanistan: the rise and fall of the informal justice assemblage

Wimpelmann

2013

Central Asian Survey

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This article explores Western attempts to strengthen mechanisms of informal justice in Afghanistan. It traces the origins and evolution of an 'informal justice assemblage': the constellation of specific expert discourses, institutional practices, and strategic considerations that made it possible and plausible that Western actors should promote and work with informal processes of justice. The article problematizes expert statements that posit that working with informal justice is somehow more 'Afghan-led' and less of an outside imposition than supporting the country's formal justice system. To the contrary, this article details how -discursively and institutionally -academic authority about what is locally appropriate in practice served to foreclose national debate and scrutiny about the organization and administration of justice. This amounted to a net erosion of accountability, reinforced by the subsequent militarization of the justice sector and governance more broadly. In conclusion, the article calls for greater attention to the broader fields of power in which claims of sensitivity to the local sentiments and reality in Afghanistan are made.

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Bringing More Effective Governance to Afghanistan: 10 Pathways to Stability

Cited by 13 publications

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Feasibility of health systems strengthening in South Sudan: a qualitative study of international practitioner perspectives

Feasibility of health systems strengthening in South Sudan: a qualitative study of international practitioner perspectives

Afghanistan’s Taliban – Legitimate Jihadists or Coercive Extremists?

Nexuses of knowledge and power in Afghanistan: the rise and fall of the informal justice assemblage

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