Television and the Afghan Culture Wars: Brought to You by Foreigners, Warlords, and Activists

Awards:   Winner of <DIV>ICA ACJS Outstanding Book Award, 2021</DIV> 2021
Author:   Wazhmah Osman
Publisher:   University of Illinois Press
ISBN:  

9780252043550


Pages:   288
Publication Date:   14 December 2020
Format:   Hardback
Availability:   To order   Availability explained
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Television and the Afghan Culture Wars: Brought to You by Foreigners, Warlords, and Activists


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Awards

  • Winner of <DIV>ICA ACJS Outstanding Book Award, 2021</DIV> 2021

Overview

Portrayed in Western discourse as tribal and traditional, Afghans have in fact intensely debated women's rights, democracy, modernity, and Islam as part of their nation building in the post-9/11 era. Wazhmah Osman places television at the heart of these public and politically charged clashes while revealing how the medium also provides war-weary Afghans with a semblance of open discussion and healing. After four decades of gender and sectarian violence, she argues, the internationally funded media sector has the potential to bring about justice, national integration, and peace. Fieldwork from across Afghanistan allowed Osman to record the voices of many Afghan media producers and people. Afghans offer their own seldom-heard views on the country's cultural progress and belief systems, their understandings of themselves, and the role of international interventions. Osman analyzes the impact of transnational media and foreign funding while keeping the focus on local cultural contestations, productions, and social movements. As a result, she redirects the global dialogue about Afghanistan to Afghans and challenges top-down narratives of humanitarian development.

Full Product Details

Author:   Wazhmah Osman
Publisher:   University of Illinois Press
Imprint:   University of Illinois Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 2.80cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.567kg
ISBN:  

9780252043550


ISBN 10:   0252043553
Pages:   288
Publication Date:   14 December 2020
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order   Availability explained
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter 1. Legitimizing Modernity: Indigenous Modernities, Foreign Incursions, and Their Backlashes Chapter 2. Imperialism, Globalization, and Development: Overlaps and Disjunctures Chapter 3. Afghan Television Production: A Distinctive Political Economy Chapter 4. Producers and Production: The Development Gaze and the Imperial Gaze Chapter 5. Reaching Vulnerable and Dangerous Populations: Women and the Pashtuns Chapter 6. Reception and Audiences: The Demands and Desires of Afghan People Conclusion: The Future of Media, the Future of Afghanistan Appendix A: Ethnic Groups Table Appendix B: Media Funding Sources and Recipients Table Appendix C: TV Stations and Affiliations Table Notes References Index

Reviews

This is the first richly observed ethnographic account of the landscape of media in post-US invasion Afghanistan. Osman's self-reflexive voice in telling the story of the dynamic media field in Afghanistan is in and of itself of import. The limited scholarship that exists on media and democracy under occupation in the Global South tends to reproduce paternalistic narratives of development. In contrast, this critical work foregrounds the geopolitical context that leads to a television 'boom,' highlighting the important role of women and ethnic minority communities in Afghani media production and consumption. Television and Afghan Culture Wars is a must read for scholars and students of global media and American empire. --Paula Chakravartty, coeditor of Race, Empire and the Crisis of the Subprime


An insider look into Afghanistan's social norms and cultural narratives. --SouthAsia Television and the Afghan Culture Wars is an insightful, powerful book. Weaving together nuanced ethnography, complex media theory, and even a touch of personal memoir, Osman provides a compelling perspective on the world of Afghan television. Nuanced and deeply researched, the book is an important contribution to a number of fields, including war and conflict studies, media globalization, and development communication. --Matt Sienkiewicz, author of The Other Air Force: U.S. Efforts to Reshape Middle Eastern Media since 9/11 This is the first richly observed ethnographic account of the landscape of media in post-US invasion Afghanistan. Osman's self-reflexive voice in telling the story of the dynamic media field in Afghanistan is in and of itself of import. The limited scholarship that exists on media and democracy under occupation in the Global South tends to reproduce paternalistic narratives of development. In contrast, this critical work foregrounds the geopolitical context that leads to a television 'boom,' highlighting the important role of women and ethnic minority communities in Afghani media production and consumption. Television and Afghan Culture Wars is a must read for scholars and students of global media and American empire. --Paula Chakravartty, coeditor of Race, Empire and the Crisis of the Subprime


This is the first richly observed ethnographic account of the landscape of media in post-US invasion Afghanistan. Osman's self-reflexive voice in telling the story of the dynamic media field in Afghanistan is in and of itself of import. The limited scholarship that exists on media and democracy under occupation in the Global South tends to reproduce paternalistic narratives of development. In contrast, this critical work foregrounds the geopolitical context that leads to a television 'boom,' highlighting the important role of women and ethnic minority communities in Afghani media production and consumption. Television and Afghan Culture Wars is a must read for scholars and students of global media and American empire. --Paula Chakravartty, coeditor of Race, Empire and the Crisis of the Subprime Television and the Afghan Culture Wars is an insightful, powerful book. Weaving together nuanced ethnography, complex media theory, and even a touch of personal memoir, Osman provides a compelling perspective on the world of Afghan television. Nuanced and deeply researched, the book is an important contribution to a number of fields, including war and conflict studies, media globalization, and development communication. --Matt Sienkiewicz, author of The Other Air Force: U.S. Efforts to Reshape Middle Eastern Media since 9/11


Author Information

Wazhmah Osman is a filmmaker and assistant professor in the Klein College of Media and Communication at Temple University. She is the codirector of the critically acclaimed documentary Postcards from Tora Bora and the coauthor of Afghanistan: A Very Short Introduction.

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