Rural women in the Balkh and Herat provinces of Afghanistan: simultaneous resistance to, and reproduction of, patriarchal power structures

This article will examine how rural Afghan women employ practices of everyday resistance as a means of challenging extremely patriarchal power structures and male domination in Afghanistan, whilst simultaneously supporting and reproducing patriarchal societal structures and values through quiet encroachment of public spaces and the labour market as well as conscious adherence to certain patriarchal norms. Through qualitative research methods consisting of eleven focus groups with 130 rural women from four districts, across two provinces in Afghanistan, this research employs a structurationist approach in order to fully account for the interaction and interrelationship between dominant, male-privileging structures of power and rural women’s agency. Significantly, these women, through the intentions behind their practices of everyday resistance and encroachment upon public spaces demonstrate that they do not wish to eradicate patriarchy, but rather to transform it into a more benign structure of power which conforms to the women’s interpretation of Islam, and which accommodates them as individuals with agency and ability, enabling them to take advantage of independent mobility, provide for their families, and send their children (sons and daughters) to school. Thus, these women deliberately engage in everyday resistance to extreme manifestations of patriarchy, but simultaneously consciously adhere to, and subtly advocate for, more benevolent patriarchal social norms.