Abstract:
In the post 9/11, the discursive construction of identity through discourses has become a norm in international politics in justifying foreign policies. What makes us believe is the interpretation given by dominant discourse through text, speeches, or media. Discourses not only construct a narrative on the national and international front but also rationalize certain policies and make other unthinkable. This is how it happened in Pakistan’s tribal areas[1]. The Pashtun social and cultural identity is mispresented through mainstream discourse as a cause of the conflict both in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Drawing on Lene Hansen post-structuralist discourse theory, this paper questions Pakistan''s mainstream discourse and evaluates how and why Pashtun social identity is discursively co-constituted in post 9/11? The paper argues that the discursive construction of Pashtun’s identity not only rationalizes geopolitics but also justifies the ongoing conflict in the tribal areas. The paper further argues that the prolonged conflict in the region should be understood as a regional power struggle for serving their geostrategic objective.
پس از یازده سپتامبر، ساخت گفتمانی هویت در تفسیر سیاست خارجی از طریق گفتمانها به یک معیار در سیاست بین الملل تبدیل شده است. به اعتقاد نگارنده، تفاسیر توسط گفتمان غالب از طریق متن، سخنان یا رسانه ها ارائه می شود. گفتمانها نه تنها ایجاد کننده روایتی هایی در سطوح ملی و بین المللی هستند، بلکه سیاست های خاصی را نیز منطقی و سایر موارد را غیرقابل تصور می کنند. چیزی که در مناطق قبیله ای پاکستان اتفاق افتاد. هویت اجتماعی و فرهنگی پشتون از طریق گفتمان اصلی به عنوان علت درگیری در افغانستان و پاکستان نادرست نشان داده می شود. این مقاله با استناد به نظریه گفتمان پسا ساختاری لن هانسن، استدلال می کند که ساخت گفتمان هویت پشتون نه تنها ژئوپلیتیک را عقلانی می کند، بلکه تضاد و درگیری در مناطق قبیله ای را نیز توجیه می کند. در ادامه مقاله استدلال می شود که درگیری در منطقه باید به عنوان یک مبارزه قدرت منطقه ای برای خدمت به اهداف ژئواستراتژیک بازیگران تلقی شود.
Machine summary:
Geopolitics Quarterly, Volume: 15, No 4, Winter 2020 Scopus pp 122-145 Geopolitics, identity, and discourse analysis of conflict in Pakistan's tribal areas Asif Iqbal Dawar '- Ph. D.
research scholar in development studies at the Lisbon School of Economics and Management (ISEG), University of Lisbon, Portugal Received: 01/10/2019 Accepted: 14/11/2019 Abstract In the post 9/11, the discursive construction of identity through discourses has become a norm in international politics in justifying foreign policies.
This is how it happened in Pakistan's tribal areas 1• The Pashtun social and cultural identity is mispresented through mainstream discourse as a cause of the conflict both in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The paper argues that the discursive construction of Pashtun's identity not only rationalizes geopolitics but also justifies the ongoing conflict in the tribal areas.
They argue that the conflict in the tribal areas is a religio-ethnic struggle of the Pashtun population across the Durand line against the foreign troops in Afghanistan.
This paper critically evaluates the mainstream discourse; whether the conflict has its roots in the cultural and social identity of the tribal society, or it is a strategic misrepresentation of identity to serve the state's foreign policy.
Hegemonic discourse serves as nexus between crises and social structure and has the capacity in the construction of an identity, which develops a narrative acceptable both in foreign policy as well as in the context of society (Nabers, 2009).
Pashtuns across Afghanistan and Pakistan share a common socio-cultural identity known as 'Pashtunwali' (Ahmad, 1980; Carne, 1958; Kakar, 2007).
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