The Politics of Social Transformation in Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan

This volume comprises the work of some of the leading authorities in Southwest Asian and Middle Eastern studies concerning the state-initiated interventions to restructure the socio-political order in Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan. Weiner and Banuazizi's detailed introduction describes the unprecedented changes that followed the collapse of the old regimes. Each coup, and the resistance movement that followed, tore the already fragile political and economic infrastructure of each country and nearly destroyed the social fabric of the population. But the common thread, according to the editors, was the crucial role Islam played as a unifying element in these diverse movements. The editors show how such changes have reshaped each country's alliance with the others and how the political future of all three governments is more intertwined today than at any other time in modern history. The contributors focus on the profound transformations of this region, particularly since the Communist coup in Afghanistan and the Islamic revolution in Iran in the late 1970s. Chapters include material on the social composition and the ideological orientations of the governing elite and counter-elite, the politics of economic redistribution and social equity, and state policies affecting the social, economic and political status of women. This book should be of interest to students and scholars of Middle East studies, comparative politics and anthropology.