Between Patronage and Rebellion: Student Politics in Afghanistan

Student politics in Afghanistan has not been the object of much scholarly attention, but we know that student politics in the 1960-70s had an important influence on the development of political parties, which in turn shaped Afghanistan’s entry into mass politics in the late 1970-80s. The purpose of this study is therefore multiple: to fill a gap in the horizon of knowledge, to investigate the significance of changes in the student politics of today compared to several decades ago, And finally to detect trends that might give us a hint of the Afghan politics of tomorrow. The research is based on approximately 100 interviews with students and political activists in Kabul, Herat, Mazar-i-Sharif and Jalalabad, as well as approximately 12 interviews with former student activists of the 1960-70s.