{"id":320139,"date":"2021-12-02T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-12-01T20:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ahlulbaytworldassembly.org\/%d8%a7%d8%ae%d8%a8%d8%a7%d8%b1\/talibans-discourse-has-not-changed-nodal-points-in-the-talibans-discourse-towards-women-norouzi\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T10:35:49","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T07:05:49","slug":"talibans-discourse-has-not-changed-nodal-points-in-the-talibans-discourse-towards-women-norouzi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ahlulbaytworldassembly.org\/en\/news\/talibans-discourse-has-not-changed-nodal-points-in-the-talibans-discourse-towards-women-norouzi\/","title":{"rendered":"Taliban\u2019s discourse has not changed \/ Nodal points in the Taliban\u2019s discourse towards women: Norouzi"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

According to the AhlulBayt World Assembly News Portal: <\/strong>On Wednesday, December 1, 2021, the meeting of the \u201cTaliban Discourse System on the Issue of Women\u201d was held by the Department of Women of International University of AhlulBayt (a.s.), and Mojtaba Norouzi, Deputy of the Center for Strategic Studies in International Cultural Relations, addressed the meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the serious indicators in the conflict between tradition and modernity, as well as to understanding where a society is on the spectrum, is the way women are viewed,\u201d he said, \u201cAfghan society, while traditional, also has a social divide, and especially in the last twenty years, particularly in the urban society of the country, these gaps have increased.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen other gaps, such as urban and rural gaps, are examined in Afghanistan, or even ethnic gaps are studied, it is concluded that there are different atmospheres exist in Afghan cities, such as Mazar-e-Sharif or Herat or Kabul. Therefore, there is no integrity in the country, even in Kabul itself. For example, the further you go from east to west of Kabul, the more women\u2019s social presence is seen, and this shows the social divide in the country,\u201d added Deputy of the Center for Strategic Studies in International Cultural Relations.<\/p>\n

Reasons for the importance of examining the Taliban\u2019s view of women<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cFor the past twenty years, this has been one of the topics on which Afghan society has sought to break the norm. Today, it is seen that in all the talks and meetings that take place about Afghanistan, one of the agendas is the issue of women,\u201d he continued, pointing to the importance of examining the issue because there is a special global perspective on the issue of women.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we accept that the focus of political debates is power, the issue of women in Afghanistan has changed from a social and cultural issue to a political issue,\u201d Dr. Norouzi pointed out, \u201cWhen it comes to empowering an ideology, the issue of women will still be a public issue, and this is rooted in the efforts of the last twenty years, as well as the experience before the Taliban government. Therefore, this issue is raised today as one of the Achilles heels of the Taliban.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since applying discourse view on the social sciences, because of its flexibility it has sought to put aside the rigid views of the past, and to offer a more flexible, complete, and multifaceted understanding. In understanding phenomena in the social sciences, we often encounter inherent reductionism. Therefore, we have to remove some variables to understand, for example, the Taliban\u2019s view of women in society,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The importance of examining the Taliban from the identity perspective<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThere are serious complications in defining the Taliban. Because when it comes to the Taliban, it must be clear which level of the Taliban is in question,\u201d this expert on Afghanistan issues said, considering the identity of the Taliban as one of the other important issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Taliban can be considered a political movement, and by that definition, we are faced with an ideology that has 100,000 forces who have tried to play a role in the power games in Afghanistan as a political movement for the past thirty years,\u201d he added, \u201cAnother view of the Taliban is that of the Americans. They equated all those who opposed the central government of Afghanistan with the Taliban. Of course, such a view was a strategic mistake and led to the Taliban regaining power.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother definition of the Taliban that is very important is the identity of the Taliban, because this movement has an identity that has its own supporters in some parts of Afghanistan, and it was ignoring this identity that has led to many problems for Afghanistan over the past twenty years,\u201d Dr. Norouzi continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother point is that the Taliban is not a homogeneous movement. This issue has various roots, one of which is the historical reasons that existed centuries before the formation of the Taliban in the Pashtun areas of Afghanistan. There have been deep-rooted differences among them throughout history. We see that there have been even serious wars between them throughout history,\u201d he mentioned.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother root cause of the Taliban\u2019s inequality is ideologies that have joined the Taliban for their own interests and will naturally join rival movements if their interests are not served,\u201d said Deputy of the Center for Strategic Studies in International Cultural Relations, \u201cAnother rift among the Taliban is the rift between the head and the body, as many Taliban leaders live in the best hotels in Dubai and so on. While the body of the group, over the past few decades, have been constantly at war and so-called jihad, and in fact have been field front. Therefore, when talking about the Taliban\u2019s discourse on women, it should be borne in mind that this view is flexible and not uniform.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taliban view of women<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIf we want to study the Taliban\u2019s discourse on women, we have to look at its nodal points or central signifiers,\u201d he said, \u201cOne of the signifiers is masculinism in Afghan society. The more you move from Persian-speaking to Pashto-speaking areas, the more patriarchal power there is. The Taliban, as a group from a specific geography where there are tribal views, therefore has a masculinist view and believes in the superiority of these traditions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEven where Pashtunwali traditions conflict with religion, Pashtunwali traditions take precedence, and one of these issues is the view of women. While in the most strict Islamic definitions of women, we do not observe the same level of strictness that exists in the traditional Pashtunwali society, and unless there is a change in this issue, we will not see a lasting change in the Taliban\u2019s view of the issue of women,\u201d added the expert on Afghanistan affairs.<\/p>\n

How to compete with the Taliban discourse?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cAnother signifier in the Taliban discourse is the view of women as a tool that exists in the body of relations of this group,\u201d he continued, \u201cEven the type of legislation in the Taliban group reflects the instrumental view of this discourse towards women.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we introduce the Taliban\u2019s stance on sin, we conclude that most of their sensitivities are about sexual sins. They basically consider women as one of the sources and causes of corruption,\u201d stated Dr. Norouzi, referring to the Taliban\u2019s view of the sin, as other signifiers of the group.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir preferred society is one in which women are completely housewives and have no social appearance, and even if they leave home, they must abide the protocols announced by the Taliban,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n

Responding to the question \u201chow could a change happen?\u201d he said, \u201cSome believe the Taliban has changed, and some believe the group has not changed, and each has its own argument. The reason for such differences of opinion is that none of them have a macro view on the Taliban.\u201d<\/p>\n

I believe that the Taliban has not changed, because their discourse has not changed yet. Even if superficial changes have occurred at some points, they cannot be permanent. However, in the long run it may lead to a change in their approach. Therefore, we have to compete with the Taliban discourse by the pressures that lead to the destruction of their discourse structure, and presenting a discourse that can compete,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Deputy of the Center for Strategic Studies in International Cultural Relations stated, \u201cMasculism in Afghan society and Pashto-speaking areas, the instrumental view towards women, and the Taliban\u2019s view of sin are nodal points in the Taliban\u2019s discourse on women.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":320136,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56,2642,54],"tags":[4877,266],"class_list":["post-320139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conferences-events","category-independent-conferences","category-news","tag-shiites-of-afghanistan","tag-women"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ahlulbaytworldassembly.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ahlulbaytworldassembly.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ahlulbaytworldassembly.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ahlulbaytworldassembly.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ahlulbaytworldassembly.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=320139"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ahlulbaytworldassembly.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320139\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":406460,"href":"https:\/\/ahlulbaytworldassembly.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320139\/revisions\/406460"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ahlulbaytworldassembly.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/320136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ahlulbaytworldassembly.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=320139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ahlulbaytworldassembly.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=320139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ahlulbaytworldassembly.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=320139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}