The Political Economy of Post-invasion Kabul, Afghanistan: Urban Restructuring beyond the North–South Divide

Abstract

The article applies the Althusserian concept of overdetermination to a contemporary case of urban restructuring in the global South. Since the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, the international aid industry has been using its capital city, Kabul, as a laboratory and launch pad for liberal policies and programmes to demonstrate that security, economic growth and democracy are mutually reinforcing and can therefore be achieved in conjunction. These interventions have resulted in fundamental structural changes in Kabul’s political economy that mimic processes of accumulation by dispossession in the urban global North. Formerly shaped by indigenous political activism and cautious democratic experimentation, Kabul today is a space of accelerated accumulation in the shadows of international peacebuilding.

Cities and Conflict in Fragile States in the Developing World

“…It has mushroomed in size-in large part as a result of on-going conflict across the country as a whole-but international decision-makers operate 'over the heads' of municipal actors. Indeed, ''alliances of national and international political and economic interests'' have ''challenged the legitimacy of local stakeholders in the city'' (Esser, 2013). Esser refers to this phenomenon as 'overdetermination', highlighting the way in which the contradictions among multiple competing spheres of power concentrated in the urban space of Kabul can, somewhat ironically, marginalise city-level actors and citizens.…”

From Urban Catastrophe to ‘Model’ City? Politics, Security and Development in Post-conflict Kigali

“…However, the implications of such constraints in an urban setting merit consideration: social conflict does not simply evaporate, especially in diverse and highly unequal cities. The strong belief in Rwanda that ''things have to go well in the city first'' (government official, 9 February 2009), due to Kigali's visibility and its demonstration effect for the broader country, 'overdetermines' the city (Esser, 2013) in an unusual sense. The government's determination that Kigali should be a model of peaceful development could have dubious implications for future stability if adequate channels for civic engagement are not in place.…”

Informalität von oben und unten

“…Eine internationale Geberpolitik, die geleitet wird vom Glauben an die Gleichsetzung von städtischer ökonomischer Entwicklung mit städtischer Sicherheit, ist direkt an einer Zementierung der Stadtentwicklung von oben in Kabul beteiligt. Damit ist Kabul allerdings nicht alleine, und Beispiele aus anderen städtischen Konfliktregionen zeigen ebenfalls, wie städtische Bodenmärkte als Vehikel für die Akkumulation privaten Reichtums im Kon text von sogenannten Friedensmissionen dienen (Esser 2013 Informality from above and below: Urban development in Kabul framed by state-building and humanitarian intervention Urban Development in the Afghan capital after the Western intervention is framed by foreign-led state-building activities and its attendant appropriations of urban space by different actors. Against this background, the article aims to reconstruct spatial developments in Kabul after 2001 and to interpret these in the context of contemporary debates about urban informality in the Global South.…”

“…Die Stadtentwicklung in der afghanischen Hauptstadt Kabul nach der west lichen Invasion im Herbst des Jahres 2001 ist gekennzeichnet von der Ver schränkung einer durch einen Staatsaufbau nach westlichem Vorbild ge steuerten Logik und der sich in diesem Rahmen ausbreitenden Aneignung des städtischen Raumes, sowohl durch internationale und afghanische Eliten als auch durch eine von oftmals extremer Armut und hoher Verwundbarkeit betroffene Bevölkerung. Die resultierende ‚Überdetermination' der städ tischen Entwicklung in Kabul (Esser 2013) wird konturiert durch Land spe kulation und Landnahme, einen modernisierenden und wirtschafts liberalen Entwicklungsnarrativ, offizielle stadtplanerische Vorgaben und deregulierten Siedlungsbau. Dazu kommt ein enormes und vornehmlich durch Rückkehr von Geflüchteten und LandStadtMigration getragenes Bevölkerungswachstum.…”