Land of the Unconquerable: The lives of contemporary
Afghan women
edited by Jennifer Heath
& Ashraf Zahedi
University of California Press, 2011
Among the more common forms of violence inflicted on Afghan women, one is the discourse that focuses on gender exclusively with reference to the rise and fall of the Taliban regime, in 'before and after' scenarios. While there is no denying the brutal nature of the Taliban's edicts on women, this somewhat easy equation speaks in part to the lack of historical insight many writers bring to this part of the world, and in part to Western agendas behind the war to 'liberate' Afghan women.
Land of the Unconquerable aims at a broader historical context, including by addressing the violence and displacement of the brutal civil war (1992-96) that preceded the Taliban. It begins by pointing out that 'many women report that this four year period – virtually ignored by the Western media – rivalled, often outdid, the subsequent Taliban era for barbarism and oppression, with rapes, kidnappings and forced marriages.' The book seeks to question the way we see the lives of Afghan women, and draws from a range of voices – including journalists, aid workers, parliamentarians, anthropologists, midwives and educators – to achieve this.
For the most part, this variety works. But Land of the Unconquerable is a bit of a mixed bag, with some layered and insightful pieces alongside others that are superficial. The collection begins with Shireen Khan Burki's exploration of the complex relationship between laws, reforms and women's rights in Afghanistan. This includes a fascinating account of the short-lived and optimistic modernisation drive of King Amanullah during the 1920s, on the model of Kemal Ataturk's Turkey. Amanullah sent young, unmarried girls to study in Turkey, introduced laws regarding engagement and marriage and, in a controversial and theatrical gesture, had his wife unveil in front of an assembly of tribal elders who were forced to applaud (while themselves wearing European clothes). Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of these reforms was the role played by Queen Soraya, the king's only wife and a highly educated and controversial woman. Pictures of Queen Soraya in Europe, unveiled and wearing a gown, were part of the propaganda circulated to destabilise Amanullah's rule. The backlash from these premature reforms, says Burki, led to a quick rollback, and was part of the factors that led to the king's overthrow in 1929.