Land of the Unconquerable: The Lives of Contemporary Afghan Women / Edition 1

by Jennifer Heath, Ashraf Zahedi

Overview

Reaching beyond sensational headlines, Land of the Unconquerable at last offers a three-dimensional portrait of Afghan women. In a series of wide-ranging, deeply reflective essays, accomplished scholars, humanitarian workers, politicians, and journalists—most with extended experience inside Afghanistan—examine the realities of life for women in both urban and rural settings. They address topics including food security, sex work, health, marriage, education, poetry, politics, prisoners, and community development. Eschewing stereotypes about the burqa, the contributors focus instead on women’s empowerment and agency, and their struggles for peace and justice in the face of a brutal ongoing war. A fuller picture of Afghanistan’s women past and present emerges, leading to social policy suggestions and pragmatic solutions for a peaceful future.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780520261853
Publisher:	University of California Press
Publication date:	03/23/2011
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	406
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Jennifer Heath is editor of The Veil: Women Writers on Its History, Lore, and Politics (UC Press) and author or editor of numerous other books. Ashraf Zahedi is a sociologist at the Beatrice Bain Research Group at the University of California, Berkeley.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction
Jennifer Heath

Part I. Perceptions and Realities
1. The Politics of Zan from Amanullah to Karzai: Lessons for Improving Afghan Women’s Status
Shireen Khan Burki

2. Between Covered and Covert: Traditions, Stereotypes, and Afghan Women’s Agency
Margaret A. Mills

3. Centuries of Threat, Centuries of Resistance: The Lessons of Afghan Women’s Resilience
Anne E. Brodsky

4. Don’t Say What, Who, and When, Say How: Community Development and Women
Wahid Omar

5. Afghanistan Blues: Seeing Beyond the Burqa on YouTube
Dinah Zeiger

Part II. A Woman’s Place
6. Women’s Political Presence: A Path to Promoting Gender Interests?
Anna Larson

7. Voices of Parliamentarians: Four Women MPs Share Their Thoughts
Massouda Jalal, Malalai Joya, Fawzia Koofi, and Azita Rafat

8. Nothing Left to Lose: Women in Prison
Lizette Potgieter

9. Selling Sex in Afghanistan: Portraits of Sex Workers in Kabul
Alisa Tang

10. Between Choice and Force: Marriage Practices in Afghanistan
Deborah J. Smith

Part III. To Be Whole in Body and Mind
11. The Hidden War against Women: Health Care in Afghanistan
Sima Samar

12. Challenges to Cripple the Spirit: A Midwife’s Experiences
Pamela Chandler

13. Women with Disabilities: Recollections from Across the Decades
Mary MacMakin

14. A Question of Access: Women and Food Security
Elizabeth Stites

15. Psychological Impacts of War: Human Rights and Mental Health
Nahid Aziz

Part IV. Making the Rubble Bloom
16. Mending Afghanistan Stitch by Stitch: How Traditional Crafts and Social Organization Advance Afghan Women
Rachel Lehr

17. Rural Women’s Livelihood: Their Position in the Agrarian Economy
Jo Grace and Adam Pain

18. Chadari Politics: Translating Perceptions into Policy and Practice
Lina Abirafeh

19. When the Picture Does Not Fit the Frame: Engaging Afghan Men in Women’s Empowerment
Ashraf Zahedi

Part V. “Don’t Eclipse My Happy New Moon”
20. Empowering Women through Education: Recipe for Success
Sakena Yacoobi

21. From Both Sides of the Mic: Women and the Media
Aunohita Mojumdar

22. Painting Their Way into the Public World: Women and the Visual Arts
Lauryn Oates

23. A Hidden Discourse: Afghanistan’s Women Poets
Zuzanna Olszewska

Epilogue: Great Expectations
24. Hopes and Dreams: Interviews with Young Afghans
Amina Kator

Selected Bibliography
About the Contributors
Index

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"[Paints] a textured picture of the lives of both Afghan women and men. . . . Provides them with texture and nuance, and reflects their strength."—Huffington Post

"Indispensable reading for anyone sincerely interested in fostering peace and well-being for Afghanistan and its people."—Choice

"The book provides insights into the many-layered lives of Afghan women."—Himal Southasian

Editorial Reviews

"One comes away from this mosaic-like presentation with the sense of having traveled through a wide variety of Afghan milieus accompanied by highly knowledgable guides and having had informative first-hand experiences of problems facing Afghan women."

Peace Review: A Journal of Social Justice - Ann Elizabeth Mayer

[Paints] a textured picture of the lives of both Afghan women and men. . . . Provides them with texture and nuance, and reflects their strength.

Huffington Post

Indispensable reading for anyone sincerely interested in fostering peace and well-being for Afghanistan and its people.

Choice

The book provides insights into the many-layered lives of Afghan women.

Himal Southasian - Taran N. Khan