IQAS 56: 1 | Reclaiming Voice – Afghan Women and the Politics of Knowledge Production

This issue is Part 1 of a double issue on Afghan Women and the Politics of Knowledge Production.

Afghan women’s rights and voices have long been instrumentalised by both modernising and imperial projects. Since the Taliban took power in August 2021, Afghan women have lost many of the hard-won gains of the past two decades. These include denial of access to secondary and higher education, severe restrictions on employment, and forced dependence on a male chaperone, for example, when traveling. Politically, women have been completely excluded from formal government structures – meaning women's voices and their representation have effectively been erased from political discourse. 

This first part of the double issue highlights the knowledge, creativity, and critical voices of Afghan women. It brings together perspectives from different regions and academic disciplines. Women as authors, critics, and theorists are at the center. The contributions combine academic analysis with poetry and art. The issue thus asks the question: Whose knowledge is considered valuable? And what does it mean to write with those who are directly affected by exclusion – rather than about them?

Selected Articles

Full issue